Curb Appeal

My favorite phrase when it comes to homeownership: curb appeal. Improving the curb appeal can be as easy as painting the front door a different color, or as complex as new windows and siding. I think our house already had pretty decent curb appeal when we purchased it, but a continually fun challenge for me is improving the curb appeal even more.

Last year, we started by painting the front door and shutters. We also did a bit of landscaping by adding some hydrangeas, hostas and mulch. So far this year, we cut down a large tree. There is still so much to be done! D and I have been discussing other updates we can make to improve the curb appeal even more. Some of the things we have talked about include:

washing the house- a must do for spring
more landscaping- including boxwoods in the front of the house
painting the trim- but what color?
adding flower boxes to the front of the house
reseeding the lawn- may have to wait until fall
garage door makeover
landscape lighting- the dollar solar lights just aren't cutting it

So we have a pretty long list of projects for spring. We most definitely have spring fever and can't wait to start. The first step will be to wash the stucco exterior of the house. It's very dirty and grungy looking. This should be a fairly easy project with a hose and gallon of house wash. From there, I'd love to paint the trim a different color from the house to give it more contrast. The trim and house are about the same ivory-yellowish color right now. The snow makes it especially dirty looking. Here's a picture of the house in it's current state (the wreath was a pinterest DIY project made from coffee filters):

Yuck. OK, I am going to use a picture of the house from last summer so it looks a little nicer:

So I have been looking online for some inspiration on trim colors that would make it look a bit fresher. Right now, D and I are thinking a nice white would clean it up a bit. This is the best image I found that shows what it might look like with the black shutters and ivory/yellow:

I would also love to strip the paint off of the porch so that the natural brick is exposed. Right now its painted a maroon color. We also want to add boxwoods and flower boxes so here's a rendering of what that might look like:

OK, maybe the window boxes are a bit much. Here's a render without all of them:

Hmm. I may like that better. Depends on how big the hydrangeas get under the windows. There is an existing window box under the bathroom window that we will definitely be utilizing this year. I like the brighter white trim. I took the liberty of making the existing concrete pathway into brick. I think it looks so much nicer! Looking online, we may be able to lay thin brick pavers right over the existing concrete. Definitely elevates the look. Brick is so much prettier than concrete.

What else could we do to the exterior to improve the curb appeal? Any ideas?