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CMR Interiors & Design Consultations Inc. I like the black-but an ashy one like Black Fox from Sherwinn Williams. New lanterns on the garage from Hinkley lighting . Take down the tree in the front blocking out the natural light from the house or replant it out in the yard a bit. Or Restoration Lighting outdoor lantern? http://www.restorationhardware.com/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod1870264&categoryId=cat1701024

abl625 That color is great looking! I like the lighting idea too...different looking and unique. What kind of tree do you think would look good but keep a little front door privacy? By the way there is a really nice arched brick entryway but I sort of like the hidden look so when you come to the house it almost surprises you. Ideas?

abl625 Also what about the garage color?

Barbara Griffith Designs It's a really nice house. I would remove the tree..it is hiding the front door. I would paint the shutters a black tone and I like the Black Fox color selected by CMR. I would, however, paint the garage doors something similar to the brick on the lower portion of your house. It is a really a large part of the surface of the front of your home and the accent should not be on the garage doorsbut on the total house to have a cohesive appearance. Your front door can be any color at all. Also with the dark gray shutters, I should do new lighting fixtures (including the front door area that we cannot see) in a dark color and the size should be bold. Check out this one from Lowe's..I always like frosted glass so you cannot see the bulbs. http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=398453-78304-18212&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3962519&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

jannnnn could you move your tree to the beginning of your lot? - its fighting your houses charactor and its hard to get a real idea of what would work best not seeing the whole house- Could you move the tree to the beginning of the lot- it would still give you privacy - you could also paint the brick the same as the shutters- keep the garage doors the same as the house color?? and then door your door last in either the shutter color or something different-

abl625 Here is the front entryway and door color. I was going to add a railing as highlighted. Any suggestions now? The stairs btw have been swept. lol

backbonemountain Because the door area is covered, you might remove the storm door. The front door would then make a better presentation. Yes on the railing. I would remove the tree and put pavers or rocks like on your porch in that whole area where the tree is to create an inviting entrance.

Denice Shuty Homes with predominant garages and driveways cater more to the automobile than to pedestrians, to say nothing of eye appeal. Your front walk is likely too far up the driveway, a common mistake by most builders. Remove that tree and redo your front walk so that some part of the front walk is visible from the sidewalk or end of the driveway. This is more welcoming to visitors who arrive by foot.

Also, if there are cars in the driveway, give people some paved surface to walk comfortably to the front door - not having to walk in the grass or rub up against a car to get to the front door. This usually can be accomplished by widening the walk, lengthening it so that the entrance to the walk is further down the driveway, and by adding a carriage walk along the driveway.

Remove the tree, it is a negative. Not worth transplanting. Achieve privacy by other landscape elements. I will find some photos as examples for you and post separately.

Mary Poulos Interior and Exterior Design Paint the shutters and the garage doors a deeper, richer version of the brick. Definitely move the tree and open the entry. Hidden entries, as studies show, are not safe. And an open entry is far more inviting.

Denice Shuty A few ideas to show how moving the walkway further down the driveway can create a welcoming entry that funnels visitors to the front door while providing space for key placement of trees and shrubs for privacy.

Amy Thompson If you decide in removing the tree, you certainly can replace it with a more decorative tree for keeping some privacy. The object to curb appeal is that the front door seems inviting almost luring you towards the front door, but you can certainly exercise the idea of retaining privacy during the course of making the front entry way a bit inviting. Type in "curb appeal" into the Google search engine and then at the top click images. Here you will see a variety of ideas for planning just how you may want to decorate the entrance area of your home. Hope this helps...:)

Vivian Rase I'm never quite sure why people paint their garage doors in an accent color. To me garage doors are something that you want to paint in a way that they fade into the background.
Having said that, I'd paint them the color of your house. Black shutters are always classic and if you have additional funds, I would purchase a new front door and paint it black as well. There is nothing classier!
Edit: Just noticed that you have a storm door in front of a nice wooden door. Can you remove the storm door and paint the wood door black?

abl625 Thanks for the ideas everyone. I looked at the front storm door before I left for work today and yes it would look good removed. I'm excited to get the garage doors and shutters painted. I bought the house like that and never have had the chance yet to get them painted as of yet. Just wanted to get some opinions on color choices. I plan down the line getting a new door but funds are a tad limited right now for that. I have a low voltage walkway lighting system installed but it does not work :( so I will get that replaced too. Anyways, any other ideas is greatly appreciated!

Denice Shuty Although I love the look of the black doors on those wide-open facades pictured above, your front door is in a dark, narrow recess, so I don't think that black is the right color in that situation. Your siding is white, so maybe stay with a painted white or light color door. .I think you want the door to contrast with all that brick in your alcove so that it stands out. Perhaps even high gloss to contrast with the matte finish of your brick. Your shutters and other trim can be a different color.

backbonemountain I'm not one of the professionals giving my opinion on Houzz, so I was excited that you liked something I offered! You gave me a boost today. Thanks!!!

latifeh You can go with darker virgin of blue or bluish gray

andreaardila The blue part changed them to black (easy) and grow a graden full of trees and flowers. A pine in the corner could look good!