Icicle lights would look great there, along with a big classic wreath on the middle of the garage door.

A long garland of greenery draped on the face, maybe entwined/studded with small white lights. Adding a wreath to the center might be too cliche. Or not, if it were a large simple wreath with no big red bow or other stuff that would look too fussy and wouldn't show from the road anyway.

I would drape cedar garland around the outside of the garage door and add a large pot of lit greens or a lit, potted evergreen in the area in front of the meter. Plan B would be a large square wreath hung point up at the apex above the garage door

Large and tall, topiary trees that can stay all year, but lighted for Christmas in square urns on each side of the garage door would be really nice and serve to disguise the hydro metre on the one side. Then a large matching wreath hung up top in the middle would pull it all together - with a smaller one on the front entry door to the house.

I'm not sure if she is asking for Christmas decorations, or a permanent decoration she can get her parents as a Christmas present.

If it's the latter, I agree that space needs something. But I do like the idea of a large barn star! Are there any salvage or antique shops in your area? You might have to see what's out there. Maybe you can find some kind of interesting trellis or iron work piece.

If you are looking for some kind of permanent decoration then how about a large version of a wind vane figure over the garage door? What area of the country do you live in? If you are by water then a large boat, in the woods , a long stylised stand of pine trees, a horse and buggy...usw. Basic scroll saw skills and a sheet or two of plywood painted would be all you need. Also,Stephie R.'s suggestion of a pair of topiaries sounds lovely and elegant. Happy holidays!!

Ditto on the potted evergreens or something to deal with the meter. I would hit architectural salvage stores, antique shops, ebay, whatever. Find some great unique piece to hang over the door. My aunt bought a neon sign from a bar that had a fire and was closing. She had it redone and gave it to my uncle Bernie. The sign said Bernie's. Too fun! Everyone has a star and that's easy to find. Do something different and special to them if you can.

I was thinking "Gosh, this seems like an obvious location for one of those giant red stars." Good for you!

Maybe some nicer/more attractive light fixtures? I do like the idea of a potted tree to hide the meter.

How about a nautical-style wooden sign with their last name?

You could always get them one of the painted quilt blocks like you see on Iowa farms. It's sorta a variation on the star, but is also different enough you don't see them on houses. This site has more information on what I'm talking about... http://www.greencountybarnquilts.com/

Decorative wrought iron would look nice. Maybe a half round piece right above the doors. I'm also with everyone else who say hide the meter. I'd say put a large potted tree that can be moved when access to the meter is needed.

Pay the electric company to move the electrical box to the side of the garage.

How about the street number? If one of your parents has a heart attack, having big bold lighted street numbers on the front of the house makes it much easier for the responders to find it. Perhaps in wrought iron...

I like the idea of of potted topiary trees on either side of garage door + a quilt block. You could make one yourself pretty easily.

I agree with Hilton. What is the surrounding region like? That will suggest the nature of the decoration. I think the reason barn stars look so overdone is because they no longer have anything to do with barns or barn country.

When we drove through Oregon, we bought a moon-and-surfer cut into a huge old sawmill blade, it's hanging below the peak of our roof now and is nice and rusty. There were a number of places selling saw blades with shapes cut into them, I imagine Googling would get you far - would add something with a little history and character to the front of the house.

A different garage door would do more for that exterior than any decoration. A door that actually matches the siding and the house - something much simpler and more elegant.

What it needs is a window at the top. Either a real one or a vintage one that you can hang for decoration.

And I agree about the electric meter. You and your parents may be used to it, and can't really see it, but that's mostly what I notice. A huge, hulking, ugly thing stuck to the facade of the house, next to the enormous expanse of white that is the other thing that dominates the entire look of the house. Move the meter, change the door. Adding decorations is not going to help at this point.

The others are right:

This house needs that electrical meter moved around the corner, a new garage door, larger carriage lamps to replace those lights and a nice round or octagonal window in the gable.

But before all that, if this were my house I'd jackhammer up that runway and have a new front walk and driveway of interlocking concrete pavers installed.

I like the suggestion for potted trees on either side. But I also think the huge white door is not working with the subtler facade. It just screams "look at me, I'm a garage", which is not a look I personally fancy. One of those carriage-house style doors would look nice, but obviously a new garage door is a big investment, not a small decorative present. Anything to match the facade instead of being white would be an improvement though, even repainting the existing door.

I would like to observe that it's hard to move meters in snow country once the utilities are used to them being in convenient spots where they can access them without wading hip deep through snow. (One can disguise them with a topiary or something in a pot, but ours cannot be moved from the installed location along the driveway without rewiring or replumbing a large section of the basement -- way too expensive, no matter how aesthetically impriving it might be.

I agree with the oversize, maybe custom, street numbers. Have them made in an interesting (but legible) font. White or silver.

People! This is her parent's house. She's not moving meters or jackhammering or anything crazy. She wants help thinking of a christmas present that will look nice with the new siding...Geez, read the question, lol.

Anyway, I agree about salvage yards or certain antiques stores. If you want original, just go out and look. If there's an art school or tech school with a welding program, you could possibly get something commisioned by a student for fairly cheap. Good luck!

Giving the gift of having the garage door painted might be nice. The white is a bit glaring. A nice tan color would go well with the green and brick, but keep the trim white. Barring that, then maybe a faux window hung just under the peak of the roof. And by all means a tall, thin, native evergreen to hide the meter.

An alternative to the star is getting a Penn. Dutch Sign/Plaque for over the garage door. My parents had one custom painted (in the 90's) for our family, two "adult" birds and three "kid" birds. The plaque is about 20" in diameter and has held up through a dozen New England winters.

Here's one I found on etsy as an example: http://www.etsy.com/listing/50607882/welcome-pennsylvania-dutch-hex-sign?ref=sr_gallery_1&ga_search_query=dutch&ga_search_type=category&category=woodworking.outdoor.sign&ga_page=&order=&includes[0]=tags&includes[1]=title&filter[0]=handmade&filter[1]=woodworking&filter[2]=outdoor&filter[3]=sign

---Move the electric meter
---Paint the garage door
---Replace the small light fixture with a larger pair that flank the garage door.
---Use plants and landscaping to soften the driveway.

High end: http://www.tuckerlandscapedesigns.com/resources/pavers+outlined+by+grass+driveway+520.jpg

Even with a very limited budget, you could soften the edges and shape with landscaping. Even some potted plants would help dramatically.

Don't add a fake window. It will just look... well, fake.

love the idea of painted quilt block above garage door with potted trees at sides.

I think larger lights on either side of the door which go up instead of hanging down (gives more space between light and meter. Put potted topiaries (or, even better, Christmas tree shaped evergreens) which can be strung with lights for the holidays.

This new siding job looks really lovely and BLESS THEM for not choosing beige/sand/taupe/almond.

I agree: GET REAL PEOPLE!! About moving meters and jacking up pavement. Even changing out a perfectly good and attractive garage door. (Shaking my head.)

Yes disguise the meter. The climate may not be suitable for a topiary or evergreen in a pot. It might winterkill which happens easily to a potted living plant. Perhaps a trellis or decorative metalwork item that is moveable in front of the meter. Whatever you would disguise the meter with does make it seem like the lights should be changed BUT that would leave holes in the siding to be repaired, so forget that. The best you can do is have the decorative meter disguise just barely as tall as the meter so the light can still do it's job.

I agree a star seems perfect, but another decorative piece (I especially like the faux-windvane idea) should not be too small and if you like the P.Dutch Hex sign idea or quilt block idea, I think it should look like rusty metal (I.E. similar color to the brickwork) rather than multi bright colors.

(Sigh) I wish the trend toward new houses would go back to old fashioned back alleys where garages were. Two and three car garages jutting out front are hard to make feel welcoming.