Exterior color scheme with bonus landscaping

[Susie]

Short version:  help me de-burgundy my house!

The siding on our house is in decent shape, and we plan to keep it for the foreseeable future.  I'm not a fan of the burgundy color scheme though, and it is pretty heavy handed:  burgundy front door, shutters, landscape stone in all the beds, barberry plants around the house, and a pair of cutleaf Japanese maples flanking the portico.  Changing it will require both paint and landscaping, both of which I'm up for doing.

The shutters need a fresh coat of paint anyway, and I'd like to use that opportunity to change the color.  I'd also like to replace the front door entirely.  I'm a little stuck on what to change it to, though.  I've thought about navy shutters, which would be fine, but the front door is stumping me.  I like bold and bright front doors (our last house had a purple front door), but yellow would be bad with this siding, anything light or pastel would be too (e.g. robin's egg blue or orchid), and I think anything in the red to raspberry zone would have a high likelihood of clashing with any remaining burgundy.  I like the Japanese maples, and I'm not sure about the landscape stone, so I don't think committing to something that clashes with burgundy is wise.

WWYD for colors?




In a related question, we also have some landscaping work to do.  We are zone 5b, and deer heavy (due to the field behind the house), so I'm looking for plantings on the deer resistant end of the spectrum.

When we moved in, the foundation plantings included 15 Japanese barberries, a number of hollies, and several ailing mugo pines.  We've already removed 4 barberries, and plan to remove the rest.  They are invasive, leaning way into the burgundy that I don't like, and are also planted too close to the house in places.  The mugo pines are in ill health due to scale, and the hollies are really too close to the foundation.  So while it doesn't look bad, there's a lot to be done.  The weeping cherry in front is also suffering from being girdled by landscape fabric under the stone.    

Finally, there are two Bradford pears in the front yard, one along the driveway and the other in the front corner.  They're visible if you look in the drone pic from last spring.  I would also like to replace these with another species that doesn't drop fruit on the driveway, has stronger limbs, and is non-invasive.  I'm considering ginkgo (grafted male), but very open to ideas.


Our house is the middle one with the pool, although we have since taken the pool out.

I am open to any and all suggestions on the house exterior (front door style, front door color, shutter color, etc.) and landscaping.  Whatcha got?!

[pierogigirl]

What about a bright kelly green door? It would be good with the maples and it will look good with other colors you bring into the landscaping. I'm thinking of using it on my house, along with a deep navy shutter (we have creamy white - not yellow- siding in good enough shape). I'd like my plantings to be green, white, and pink.

[dr.girlfriend]

Is the siding cream or light tan, or something else? I have white siding, black shutters, red door and I really like it. I can see a really dark green or dark blue being nice too though. I wouldn't worry about changing up the landscaping; I don't think the "burgundy theme" will be noticeable once the house is changed and in fact will be a nice contrast.

[aprilsails]

Black shutters with a deep coloured door (green, red, purple) would definitely work and look classic.

Another option would be a deep sage green for the shutters, with a black door. I would paint out the sidelight trim so it was all black surround.

And my final option would be Hale Navy shutters, and a deep dusty blue door. I’ve tried to upload a picture of the colour I want three times but Tapatalk hates me tonight so here is a link:

www.alamy.com/old-house-blue-siding-cream-trim-traditional-dry-stone-wall-green-grass-makers-mark-bourbon-distillery-national-historic-landmark-kentucky-us-image356294322.html

[aprilsails]

We have a ginkgo in our front yard and it is the slowest growing tree imaginable. So unless you pay extra for a very mature tree (which we did, the trunk was almost 3” diameter) it will be a very long time until you have a tree of substance. I figure it will be almost a decade until it looks decently large, and we’re already two years in. The colour of the tree is nice and light and bright, and I think it contrasts really nicely against our burgundy toned brick (I’m stuck with burgundy for life!)

I am by no means knowledgeable about landscaping so I will not comment there. I can’t wait until we can get a professional landscaping team through.

[woowoo]

What about navy shutters and a mint green door?

Not my house - just a sample as it shows what it looks like next to burgundy/red brick.
www.runtoradiance.com/our-new-mint-front-door/

[deadwing]

How do you feel about lime? Lime is a nice contrast with burgundy. I also like burgundy and fuschia together if you prefer a bold pink.

[nicolewi]

I think I would go navy or black with the shutters. I liked the idea of deep navy shutters and a lighter blue door, if you wanted to do something fun with the door. Or black, with then maybe some kind of green door??

We are also zone 5 with deer. Not sure if we are a or b. The deer are so pretty but so frustrating! They eat everything! Don't plant hostas.

For trees, what about a disease-resistant flowering crab in front, if you don't want something huge? The other tree recommended to us (that we haven't planted) is an Autumn Blaze (or similar) maple. Supposed to be strong, not too huge, great fall color.

They used boxwoods quite a bit in our foundation plantings (i.e. replacing the barberry). I love Japanese Maples and would like to plant one.

You have enough that you are looking at that it might be worth having a landscape center draft a plan for you.

[lust2hart]

Navy shutters and cobalt blue front door.

ETA Or black shutters and eggplant or deep plum front door.

[ssmjlm]

I like the black shutters and a plum colored door.

As for the landscaping, I would probably take out the weeping tree, it's blocking the front by a lot. I'm not a fan of large front landscaping. I would try and keep the maples, but not sure they work where they are.

[simpsongal]

Dark green shutters would look nice, but then I'd probably just do a wood tone door. Back shutters are classic and then you could pick the door color after (e.g., mock it up in a photo, I did that w/ours years ago).

I don't think I would do navy shutters b/c the siding is reading yellow to me, and I don't love that combo.

Have you thought about wrapping the columns in front and making them look a little more substantial? Also, changing the siding on the overhang might be nice too - like something complimentary to the new door with a design element rather than just horizontal siding (I'd have to google for inspiration pics).

re landscaping, I'm not sure helpful since I'm not familiar w/zone 5. But I think your plan sounds good, I can see why you want to start making some major changes. I really like our weeping norway spruce and weeping blue atlas cedar. The first one could work well at the corner of the house, or either might be a good anchor/focus for a landscape bed. You're got a good amount of property out front, I'd be tempted to but a kidney or other shaped bed in the front yard where that bradford pear is. Ginkos are cool looking, though I wonder if they would match the traditional landscape. I'd consider planting an oak or maybe a blackgum.

[Susie]

Thank you all for the ideas!  I will mull them over.  I have done a couple mock ups using the SW paint tool, but I have a lot more ideas to mock up and think about.

As far as the siding color, since a couple people mentioned - I actually struggled to find a pic that I thought was true to what it looks like IRL, especially of the front, which faces ENE. 


It's easier to get a true picture in back.  This is sun and shade, both in October when we were in the midst of taking the pool deck out.


It is more griege than yellow.  Our next door neighbor's is similar but more cream/yellow, and it is distinctly different from ours IRL.  You can just see a little of theirs in the December photo.

Behind the outdoor shower enclosure there's a bright red door to the laundry room, so I do have a sense of how that looks:

No idea why that one door is red, when the whole front is burgundy.  In an old google street view, the shutters were burgundy and the door was a dusty teal.  The overall effect is very dated IMO.

As far as the landscaping, I like the idea of a kidney shaped bed in the front corner where we now have a bradford pear, and I also like the idea of some of the weeping varieties of spruce, etc.  We have 2/3 acre in total, and cutting back on the amount of grass we're mowing would not be a bad thing!  The current landscaping also includes basically no flowers, which I plan to change.  I had a lot of success with hydrangeas, day lilies, and daffodils at our old house, and I plan to try to do some of that again here.  

[darby]

Feb 14, 2022 20:57:11 GMT -5 pierogigirl said:

What about a bright kelly green door? It would be good with the maples and it will look good with other colors you bring into the landscaping. I'm thinking of using it on my house, along with a deep navy shutter (we have creamy white - not yellow- siding in good enough shape). I'd like my plantings to be green, white, and pink.

This is what I was going to suggest. It should also go with a lot of your existing landscaping.

I might also consider a bright pink door. Something like SW Cherries Jubilee or even Dragon Fruit.

[mouse]

I’d think about your landscaping in layers of canopy - tall trees, smaller trees and shrubs, perennials and then groundcover. You’ll get a fuller, more natural look if you combine these. An exception being something like a meadowscape.

Maybe it’s because I lived through a heat dome this summer, but for trees I’d look into natives. Our natives are much better adapted to severe weather and climate change. I’m not sure if you said your region, but you might look if you have a state or regional native plant society. You can also reach out to your local extension service.

[stemmie]

My siding is that color. I have brick with it, though.

My current builder/HOA-dictated colors are medium and deeper colonial blue. I don't love it, but it works. I also have a massive cutleaf dwarf maple out front.

I am considering a brighter sagey green for the shutters and a deep orchid or deeper sage door. Another house around the corner has cocoa brown shutters with a deep coral door with that color siding. I have seen deep cadet blue (not quite navy) and red doors, too.

I would change the paint before revisiting the entryway landscaping. You might like it better with less burgundy on the house. But good on you for getting rid of those damned Bradford pears.