Houzz is back to the same old same old. I commented to thank Ken 's comment and then it was gone. We had to haul in dirt and buy rocks from a local gravel pit and place with our old backhoe , man power ( or is that some woman power too) and a neighbor with incite and access to wholesale pump system from when he use to install them .I had more pictures but they are gone too. Lost my Japanese maple this winter but not certain I am willing to pay another $300 to have it die too

Because Butterfly Garden is one of the fora in which this thread was placed, the relevant recommendation is to design in the interest of nectar flowers, therefore to minimize number of hours during which those plants would be shaded.

I’m no help because I like the blue green color. I think it plays well with the walls. But you can try a darker color. Otherwise I like the suggestion to sand and clear coat. Your house is SO SO SOO Beautiful btw!! Absolutely amazing :)

Front door - think about a new wood or wooden look door in color to match porch floor & railings. Also a door with a smaller window - leaded glass design. Back door - black to match trim.