Your photos are tiny and two are sideways. It is hard to see details. I would not do much to the house. Is it a newer Victorian style?

I am not a fan of the front door. I would get a new one. It is off-centered in the portico. Is there enough space to add one side light to the right?

I would change the foundation planting. It looks like a barrier. I would do a perennial garden around the porch and lower the hedge on the right side.

Thank you! You are right- it is a Victorian style built in the 80s. I uploaded some different photos; hopefully they turned out better. I didn’t know how to take the other photos off though.

What color/ style do you suggest for the door?

Upgrade your storm door with a solid glass one that lets the interior door show. Then lower the hedges so they are level with the bottom of the oval glass in the door. Hedges will stay healthier if you make the top more narrow than the bottom so that all the leaves receive some sunlight. When you see hedges that are bare below and green on top it is because they were squared up like yours and the top got good sun while the bottom did not. A bigger lantern light is needed. I would add a pair of Victorian style urns on the gravel patches flanking your walk. Fill them with thriller-filler-spiller plantings.

https://www.houzz.com/magazine/the-secret-formula-for-grouping-plants-in-a-pot-stsetivw-vs~2758270

Advice above is good. Change out the door For sure. Perhaps a potted vine with a nice trellis to the right of the door? I would not add a sidelight. This house has LOTS of detail, I don’t think you need more I’d keep it simple. Oh, and yes, Remove the shrubbery too!

It looks like you have an attractive porch so I think it should be visible. I recommend removing the hedge to the left of the entrance.

The hedge on the right should be reduced in size.

Most of the improvements are in landscaping.

Do you enjoy garden work?

The hedges have to go.

What a beautiful home! I agree it has so much style and beauty now it would not need much. I was wondering if you want the hedges for privacy? If not the suggestions to lower them or bring them back to a more natural look vs the squared fence look would be more graceful, but then I saw they are boxwood not pine. A potted plant arrangement that could be freshened for the change of seasons to the left of the front door would be welcoming.

You don’t have to pull them out, just trim the hedges back to the floor level of the porch.

I would definitely paint the siding (not the shingles) in a color that complements the shingles. A pretty sage green, a greenish gray, a taupe, a very light brown or yellow? Replacing the harsh barn red and trimming the hedges would be my first changes, then see what the house needs from there.

You have a lovely, welcoming and spacious home. You don’t have to do all the work in one fell swoop but it does help to have a plan. Good luck!

If you cut the hedge back to the porch floor level, fresh shoots would immediately grow about 18" taller because it has a fully developed root system with a lot of stored energy. You'd need to cut about 18" below the floor level in order to end up with something manageable. The waiting time for regrowth would be negligible.

I wouldn't get rid of the hedge or cut it drastically either. Evergreens are expensive and they do take forever to grow. I like decoenthusiate's advice to cut it to the bottom of the oval glass on the door. I just realized your front windows go all the way to the floor. I probably would leave the hedge the way it is for privacy (I like my privacy), and landscape in front of it. A nice ornamental tree would help too.

Not a pro - I dislike the hedges because they mimic too closely the shape of the house, too much of the same thing in my opinion. Maybe some of the pro's here can give you a visual of a different configuration for those front garden beds.

Agree with getting an all-glass storm door and a new door or repainted interior door in deep turquoise blue, matched to several potted planters on the porch and repaint your porch bench the same color.

Do trim the hedges down to floor level so your entrance and porch bench are more visible and inviting.

Work with a small nursery to add a tree and perhaps other landscaping features on the left to balance out the bulkiness of the extended structure on the right.

I didn't really look at the newly added pictures (or the sideways ones) until now ... so talking about cutting 18" below floor level is impossible! The hedges made it look like there was a raised deck porch. Seeing that it's a ground level floor being hid now makes their existence seem 100% wrong. A hiding spot here doesn't make good sense, even though it might calm someone's anxiety about being seen at the front of their house. It seems like an odd style of home to go out of one's way to hide so much of. When OP doesn't dialogue it gives the feeling that the same house and its problems will be reposted in 2 more years with no changes.

I’m sorry that I haven’t responded... been spending this Good Friday morning with my family. I appreciate your suggestions, and am taking them to heart. It seems that the hedges need to go, which is reassuring to hear, because we actually discussed it with a landscaper yesterday who happened to be working on another property close by, and he seemed hesitant to do it. I’m attaching a picture of our front yard, since there were some requests. There are two mature trees in our front yard.

Yardvaark, it's not anxiety about being seen. Some people, including myself, enjoy a little bit of privacy when home. Nothing wrong with that.

I may be going against the grain here (have not read all of the comments). The first thing I notice is all of the white trim. It looks very busy and contrasting against the red brick & Siding. I love the cedar shake siding, but I find they are a bit lost in the mix and have not truly come to life (give them a new coat of stain). I would suggest painting all of the trim a charcoal, black or Beige - this will also make your roof pop.

I think you will find that these colours will help to neutralize the red a bit and warm it up.

I feel this look truly updates the look of your exterior and creates some grounding and class to the look of your property without it losing its integrity.

I agree on changing the front door and doing away with the screen all together. I love screens, but you can always opt for a retractable screen so that it doesn't distract from the door.

I love the look of this door. It will add light and privacy at the same time.

I agree with the above comments that something has to be done about the shrubbery. Either remove or reduce.

I hope this helps.

Best,

Cindy

@aak ... I totally understand the need for privacy. Wouldn't want a bathroom or bedroom without a door. But at the front yard of a highly ornamental style residence without a dedicated courtyard ... immediately next to where one would want to project a sense of welcoming and invitation? It's not a great place to put up a 4' height barricade wall, even if it is green and leafy. It may give privacy, but it also nullifies important architectural details. It makes the house look like less friendly people live there. Or people who've gotten tired of maintaining their yard. Even if I wasn't friendly, I'd want to conceal the fact a little, rather than advertise it explicitly. The way the overwhelming majority of homeowners solve yard privacy is to create it in the back or side yards, where it negatively affects nothing and to the contrary, brings positivity. Occasionally, under certain circumstances they create privacy directly at the street where it doesn't impinge on the house once the yard is entered. Why try to bake bread in the freezer when one has an oven?