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Kira Nguyen I would definitely get ride of the light blue steps and trim. Maybe go for concrete or wooden steps?



The front yard landscaping is very pretty; I don't think you need to change much here. Consider a new color for the house - it really depends on what you like. Here's a great ideabook on choosing a palette for your exterior:
www.houzz.com/ideabooks/3317364/list/5-Easy-Tips-for-Choosing-Your-Exterior-Paint-Palette

Hope that helps! :)

janiceballa Thank you, Kira. I was thinking along the same lines. I think the house would look better without the "seafoam" trim and stair, replaced with a natural wood stair. I did some major work on the garden and we've always thought of our house as the "garden house." I have concerns about over-doing it, as we live in a 1970's development and some exterior upgrades become a bit jumbled for the home styles.

Carolina Photo To Go LLC If you can consider a front porch, I would hire an architect to redesign the front of your house. You want to ensure that it attaches appropriately. I have noticed over the years that house with front porches seem to sell more quickly than those without.

curacaoblue You have nice landscaping but the aqua is distracting and doesn't seem to go with this house. I think shutters would look nice. You don't need many so they may not end up costing too much

janiceballa Thank you, Carolina and curacaoblue. I've read around the site a bit and realize I'm also one of the millions of people that live in houses that are rather plain and boxy. I'm not sure what can be done structurally that won't price our house right out of the neighborhood. But I appreciate everyone's help. I should have posted this a long time ago!

onthefence Wow, Whatever you do needs to be worthy of that very amazing front yard. Absolutely beautiful!

Wood stairs sound lovely. I've also seen a house locally where they faced the stairs with slate. The tones of the slate blend well with their beautiful garden. That house is painted stucco in a very light hot chocolate color. Personally I like the color because it too blends well with the landscaping. It seems that the materials and colors on your home should be more earth toned.

intoit Your house is charming and I love the landscaping and large evergreens. New paint color on the house and trim should update the look. Would like to see the garage doors painted a color that blends in with the new color so they are not so much of a focal point.

judyg Lovely Craftsman inspired home and your yard is great.

janiceballa Thank you for the many compliments to the front yard, I've shared them with my friend who helped with the layout! You've given me some good ideas, but I want to put something out there. The windows are white vinyl clad on the exterior, so I'm going to paint the trim around the windows white. I'm getting the idea from you all that I need to paint the house so it doesn't detract or clash with the garden material in front. The roof and fencing are all naturally weathered cedar, so lots of grey-silver, and the deck in back is covered with the light grey trex. I'm thinking I need to find a medium toned neutral that won't be too contrasty with the trim, and goes well with grey. But not grey, right? Would that be too monochromatic? I'm thinking something more in the grey-green, grey-brown, or grey- purple range.

janiceballa Thank you, judyg, I was thniking along those lines. And I like what they did with the gently arched span over the front entry. This is definitely going into my idea book!

decoenthusiaste I'm thinking you could pull of this look.

onthefence I really like your thoughts on color in the grey-green, grey-brown, or grey- purple range. The house posted above by Judyg - the Arcadia house has that grey-green shade with white trim and I think it's gorgeous.

I really like the idea of slate but I'm not sure how you could do it without it looking like a stripe down the center of your front yard. I really like the stone on the house that decoenthusiaste showed too.

janiceballa This has been so helpful. I'm really excited about the grey-green color, as is Mr. "But I Like White." I like the stone as well. Since the garage is so huge (when we first bought the house the landscaping was so overgrown the garage was the only thing visible from the street) I'd like to use the stone to accent the porch, maybe two stone half columns and natural wood treads with white risers. I'm really impressed by the helpfulness of the Houzz community!

intoit Love the idea of stone accents and the colors posted by decoenthusiaste...should be beautiful.