if you removed the shutters and painted the inner window trim black, I think it would give you enough contrast. see the window in the pic.

(also notice the landscaping. trim you bushes under the windows and the large tree in the corner). if it's a somewhat shady area, bring in some color w/Coleus plants.

lose the white rocks and try some flowers, mexican pebbles or some type of plants as in the photo. do a nice aqua on the front door. paint the trim under the roof black.

Beth H, I wish my window frames were black as in your picture! Unfortunately, there really isn't much trim around the windows except a little bit on top. The brick goes right up to the white window frames. Is there anything I can to do the windows to frame them other than the shutters?

anything that is white in that window (other than the grids on the inside of the glass), can you paint it black?? seems as though there is enough trim to do so. or even a naval blue would work.

as for the shutters, the space on the side is just too narrow, and the window too wide, to support the look. try removing them, power wash the white, paint the window trim and roof trim, and reevaluate

notice these (and look at landscaping!) see how these fit the windows? if the shutters don't cover the entire window when folded close, they don't fit.

A wood garage door would look beautiful

So you think it would be ok to paint the outer window frame (and larger bars that cross it) black but leave the white frame inside the double panes white? Sorry to belabor the point, I am just trying to make sure I understand. :-) I was also wondering if I could put some kind of wood framing around the edges over the brick and paint that black, or would that look funny? (If you look at the close-up picture, you can see that there is already a faux wood piece that runs along the top, just not the sides.) I would love a wood garage door, or at least more of a carriage house style...that's on my wishlist for someday!

Beth H, when you said "paint the trim under the roof black", do you mean all the trim...everything that isn't brick, essentially? What about my light-colored gutters? jbtanyderi, I don't have much room to make my shutters bigger. I wish I did.

Sugarcakes2, that is an interesting idea I hadn't thought of! Now I'm wondering if we could do this kind of effect, leaving the bottom part of the brick to tie it in, and then frame the window out nicely. Could we do it across the front, encompassing both windows? This is the type of siding we have along the back of the house, although I prefer vertical siding that looks like board and batten.

And if we did something like this, maybe we should make the brick front post half brick, half chunky wood post to tie it all together?

First job is to remove all the white rocks and the pre-fab building blocks around the beds. Then break out the two concrete slabs that are the walk. Reduce the bed that is close to the porch so you can have a meandering path/walk that goes out to the street but also has a short detour to the drive. I agree with joining the two beds together. Keep them nice and asymmetrical do distract from the squarish building and all its blocky features. Have a local nursery help you with plants that will thrive in your locale. Set a big pot of "thriller, spiller, filler" plants in front of the square column to soften it. If those are snap out grids on the windows, a quick day of spray painting can make them black. If they don't come out and are too big a job, I think you can get away with the "decorative" shutters until the windows have to be replaced. Then go with black windows. Get a colorful indoor/outdoor rug to replace the standard doormat.

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Good points, Sugarcakes! I like your ideas, deco. Should my walkway still go to the street considering that there are no sidewalks?

Also, any edging suggestions for flowerbeds to replace concrete blocks?

Erin, whatever other trim you can paint black would give you the extra contrast you want. I thought the fascia/trim right under the roof eave would look nice. keep the downspout the white color.

as for the windows, paint black whatever you can. if the middle part is white, it's fine. It would look like this

try leveling out the stones around you tree. what's there now is lopsided. take the time to set a good base and level it. now put on the 2nd and 3rd tier. use construction adhesive caulking to hold the stones in place. Doing it so it looks like this will amp it up. plant ferns, coleus/impatiens around the base for extra color

there are a bazillion flowerbed edging ideas. depends on your cost and DIY skills. search around and see what you like. here are some ideas. a brick or cobble path would look cool

stacked stone:

or just doing a neat concrete edge. here is your vertical siding you like.

other options. lowes has a grip of edging materials. main thing is to make sure they're neat and level. otherwise it looks sloppy

Thanks for all the ideas, Beth! I love all the pictures of edging. Well I am now up entirely too late obsessing on this and found this picture that is inspiring me a bit...I know the shape of the home is different, but I wonder if I could do a similar treatment with my windows, the door, and the way the darker brick carries over into the walkway? I was already thinking of lining the underside of the tiny porch with a natural wood, maybe cedar, and doing a carriage-style black light fixture there. And if I ever got the carriage style/wood garage door that would tie in as well.

The windows on the porch of your inspiration pic might be a nice color to try. For the other windows, you can remove shutters and have rustic type window boxes made that replicate the look of the wood piece above the windows on the left side of the insp pic. Window boxes may require thinning out the taller shrubs a bit. A contrasting brick walk will work. Don't know which walk will be cheaper to install. You'll just have to price them out.

For those saying to make it one big flower bed, would you have it just one solid flat bed or try to terrace it some because of its size? Currently the bed in front of the windows is terraced into two levels. This can be seen the best in the close-up picture.

This house is more similar to ours and has some of the trim painted a contrasting color which does add some interest. Their paint is dark brown. Could this work with black or dark gray and still add in cedar as well? Although, looks like we would have to paint our gutters to make that work. Our roof is charcoal...too much of that color? I like how they used the cedar for their posts and under their porch roof. Alas, they also used it for shutters...which unfortunately still seems the easiest way to achieve cedar accenting around the window.

For comparison purposes...same house before they added the shutters! What do you think, does this stand on it's own?

It's a shame the tree was planted right in front of the house. It blocks the view. If you're not in love with the tree, consider removing it and planting a new one farther to the right, so that the front of the house is visible from the street. Consider planting a tree that is native to your area. Suggestions include: Florida sugar maple, southern magnolia, Fringetree(Chionanthus virginicus), Weavers flowering dogwood, Red Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora), etc.

Rather than ring the base of the tree with pavers, extend the planting to include the tree. You can then make a small patio in front of the door, taking out the gravel and those two large concrete slabs. You could even make a stone path through the enlarged garden area, around to the back of the house.

Decorative vs. functioning shutters is the dilemma. This article might help you decide what works for you and your home. I do think you can keep them until time to upgrade the windows, and then make the big decision.

http://www.lifeofanarchitect.com/residential-architecture-101-shutters/

Erin, love the last house w/the brick, and the one above. I think you've got it! as for the two levels, I think it could work if done correctly. (don't forget the tree as well. you could always give that a good pruning to open it up and let in some light)

The tree needs to be limbed up.

Shutters should be removed.

When it comes to landscaping around a home the goal is to make the house look nice. I think for your house the bed is too dominating. I would relocate some shrubs so you can plant perennials in front of the shrubs that remain.

The ring around the tree I would remove. It is not a good idea to pile mulch against a tree trunk.

If you want to edge the bed with something do it at grade level, not above.

I think a stone path to the door would be nice.

NO fake shutters