Oh, Marcolo, that picture makes me laugh because I had been teasing DH that our daughter's play kitchen would be a perfect color scheme for a 1940's house. He just gave me that look. I know exactly what you mean by putting in the wrong decade and I agree with you for the most part, but then our neighborhood houses' original finishes were I think closer to the '30's than the '40's (maybe the builder was using up stuff left over from before the war) -- though I don't really know. All the kitchens I've seen on the street have been redone, or at least repainted, at some point in between and the new ones all look very much like 2000-2010 kitchens. Granite as far as the eye can see. Christine and mama_goose, thank you for the input! I've looked at Barker Door and I will check out DoorStop too. I will have to go sniff some Cabinet Coat and see if it would work for the resp-sensitive family members. Unfortunately (or not), we don't have a garage or other separate enclosed space for painting. Mama_goose, I remember your kitchen and it is just charming. I love how you have made it all your own. I believe our house's original cabinets were much like yours except with slab doors, from what DH tells me (he was the one who replaced them with frameless melamine in the late 80's).

What about this color? It has a bit of grey but not too orange. I also like Woodstock tan (center left). Finding the right color is definitely challenging. Good Luck!

You would get more out of the forum if you limit your post to one area at a time so as to keep the discussion from becoming confusing and to get the material covered. And, if you include good photos that show whole, complete scenes. I'd start with the camera where the first photo was taken, but when the light it better. Then aim the camera left, straight and right, taking slightly overlapping photos so we can see how the house fits into its surroundings. (Landscaping is more than what only exists directly in front of the house.) There is barely a sense of "entrance" in the first photo. As that is critical to having a nice front yard/landscape/presentation of the house, that's where I'd begin when better photos show up. It seems like there's a built-in brick planter(s) and they don't look good or workable. I'd get rid of them. I'd answer the question of painting brick in this way: is the brick itself (ignoring other factors) ugly? If the answer is "yes," then paint it. If the answer is "no," then coordinate all other things (paint/roof, etc) to coordinate with the brick in a pleasing way. (I think this especially relates to the entrance which now looks dark and uninviting.)

Thank you for the suggestions! I like the idea of removing the shutters to see what colors would match more appropriately. The roof has supposedly 30 years left on in but it is almost a black color. The siding is also newer. The trim is actually very dark brown at the moment. So we have black roof, off white siding, maroon shutters, orangey red door, and brown trim! I will have to play around with photoshop to try out a sage green - hadn’t thought of that color. Thanks! We’ll probably replace the door and sidelights soonwr than later. So many options though! How to choose?? We would probably have to replace the walkway at some point bc it is tilting the wrong way towards the house and the downspout does not extend beneath it. We have some temporary plastic extender tripping hazard at the moment. How much do walkways normally cost? We had some instant equity when buying (it was sold as-is at half the price of the average price of the neighborhood) but we’re looking to redo some bathrooms, do something about the kitchen eventually, fill in some voids beneath sections of the house, and install 100 ft of retaining wall too so this may have to wait. I love the idea of installing some curvy landscaping though but maybe we should wait until we replace the walkway at some point? I guess we could always just score a curvy border around it and plant some cheaper plants in the meantime. We also have a retaining wall at the side that is rotting (where there used to be a bunch of trees - they must have chopped them down prior to selling bc they are still there in these photos) and need to replace ASAP. There is one tree remaining on the “overgrown” tree side of the house that is a dogwood tree so I might see what it looks like in the spring before chopping some of it off. My husband wants to put in retaining wall at the back as well in order to bury an exposed pipe, provide a base for the AC unit, and address drainage issues. So it would be about 100 ft of retaining wall, along with regrading and pulling out leftover tree stumps. It’s likely a big expense unless anyone has any other ideas. The porch is actually sagging in the middle but are considering a polyeurethane injection to prop it back up as this seems to be much more cost effective than putting in a new one. My husband keeps going on about changing the porch floor - but what else goes with brick? The posts are gone though - they definitely need to be replaced ASAP. Any suggestions for what style and width? There are so many options!