A few suggestions (plants not specific as don't know where you are) ... Think I would paint door, door frame & posts just white. Shutters, one of the greyed teals. Explore color on one of the paint mfg. websites where you can upload photo (a better one w/ less shadows) and see changes ... like @ Valspar.com.

I change mine out twice a year. The only extra accessory I add to the room in summer is a nice vase of silk flowers. I'm a quilt person, so I change colors with them. Now this year is a different story. I acquired (for free) a coverlet in perfect condition and it seems like it's made of two very soft sheets with a thin layer of batting in the middle. It was quilted in vertical lines, and it has the faintest pastel stripes on it. Does it stand out? Nope. But by golly That's all I'll use this summer! lol. I have a folded blanket at the foot of the bed for cooler nights. I am a surprise bed person. Meaning when you turn down the sheets you'll never know what funky pattern I have on there! I love playing around with fitted sheets and pillow cases because I don't use flat sheets. I'm a sloppy sleeper and get too hot. :)

I am a landscaper so I see your solution in what you want to do in the outdoors rather than indoors. If you love the idea of a cottage garden, create one with a meandering path that leads to the door you want to enter. Using plantings for the different seasons you can make it a real pleasure for you or anyone else to be directed to whichever entrance you like. I have seen this done on several projects I have worked on to wonderful effect - granted these are people who have professional designers and landscapers, but you could pull it off with a little investment and investigation. Find images of cottage gardens you like and observe how they interface with foot traffic and entryways. If you do this right, it can add significant value to your home. Just make sure you have a good master plans that takes into account realistic traffic needs and seasons (how will i feel lugging in groceries, kids, grandma, going through bad weather, etc) Be honest with yourself about the compromises you will have to live with - farther from the car, mud? snow?s I love the idea of making your side door the main entrance! Good luck, Grace

Another leg-out person--huh! Like Itl, my husband's still asleep when I get up and I sometimes don't see our attic bedroom until I go back up in the evening. Our bedrooms are in hot sultry Georgia and Florida, also a definite factor. Long ago (in hot California) I adopted my MIL's method of folding the bedding down (preferably onto a bench we don't have right now). She was very firm in her opinion that bedding should air out between uses, and I came to appreciate that, but even more then that pleasing her also meant a very fast, easy, but tidy way to "make" the bed. We like to read in bed so have plenty of cushy pillows in regular cases, with one firm set in decorative cases that's discarded when we settle down to sleep and goes on top of all the others in the morning because it's less wrinkled. Simple, attractive with attractive linens even if not magazine-ready, and inviting to the only people who normally stroll around our attic--us.