Thanks everyone for the additional suggestions. I've been mulling it all over. Burntplants, I hope termites and bugs aren't a problem. We have the foundation treated twice a year and the siding is vinyl but I will check into this to make sure. I hadn't considered this an issue because the wood mulch was a suggestion from our builder and 2 of our landscapers. You have me concerned however. After some thought, I'm concluding that overhauling the grade isn't a viable option for a couple of reasons. DH is dead set against it and the second one is that I don't think it will end up being a livable space for the reasons karin and almondstriation have mentioned. The long term landscape plan involves a much larger outdoor living space in the area of our yard that is above wall and will be connected by steps to our screened porch. This little add on patio on the lower level would not likely get used much. The outdoor living area on the upper grade will be an expensive project and I hate to devote time and money to a make shift patio that will push back the timeline of the larger project. Clematis is another plant I am adding to the list of plants to try. Almondstriation, thanks for that suggestion. I just pulled a volunteer oak seedling out of there so I know there are some forms of plant life that can survive under there......how would an oak tree look in that space ? :) I was reading the thread on landscaping around garden sculpture and noticed the picture with the two large sphere's and the gel fire fire pit. The area has very little plant material but it is dramatic. I hope my space can achieve that kind of interest but not in a tacky way. I did a photo search for "spheres" on Houzz and saw some examples that have me thinking. I would love to hear some thoughts on this from some of you who work sculpture into your landscape plans.

If you haven't built the stairs yet, you may be able to rework them so that they turn at the top and are accessed parallel to the kitchen door, leaving a railing where the start of the stair currently shows on the plan (see drawing below). Granted winding the first three risers/treads may make it tricky moving things in & out of storage, but with two people, I would think one person could hand bulky items over the railing to someone already on the stairs. You can use a child safety gate to assure that the kiddies don't fall. Although, with the turn, I doubt they would fall far. Just for the record, I patched a couple of pieces together here for the sake of conversation. Had this been a part of a plan for a client, I'd have started from scratch and worked out the details. :)

(Edited) Klara: Really nice terrace. Like your paver choice. You'll enjoy your new / newly enhanced outdoor living area more if it is both attractive and low maintenance. For decoration, you might consider short pillars made of the same stone as plant stands. Pillars could also be used for seating. If there is an area where you don't want people or pets to walk down the embankment either for safety sake or to protect the lawn from traffic that could cause erosion, you could create two (or more) pillars with treated boards between them as seating to "block" that path -- directing traffic to your new steps with a pillar on each side and, perhaps, a metal bird bath on one and a sun dial on the other. If the power goes out and the pump fails? If you're still putting outdoor steps in, you could have the steps/walkway fork at curb or knee wall height. A curb or knee wall to block that water would be a worthwhile investment to protect your new room -- or two new rooms. Another idea would be to enclose the area beneath that overhang and floor it a (waterproofed) step (or two) higher than the driveway to create a new downstairs entry -- large enough for a coat closet as well. You'd have a "sunken" living room downstairs -- step down from the new entry into the new family room. Another budget friendly idea or two: Consider making your new upstairs build (at least initially) a carport with a storage room on the far side of it and a covered breezeway between the parking space(s) and your home. You get the storage of the garage, shelter for your vehicle(s) -- at a lower cost so you may be able to shelter two vehicles) and shelter for you to walk from your vehicle(s) to your home -- without the expense of finishing the four side of a garage until your budget enables you to enclose it the way you want to do so As long as you have another living room upstairs: Since the downstairs has plumbing, the downstairs room could become an efficiency apartment you rent to seniors so you can increase your budget for other things quicker..

There are a few ways of doing this, 1 way is what you have in your situation... 2nd-way entry to the basement is done from the exterior if there is already a set of stairs from the house that lead into the basement and the 3d-way as what you looking to do. That said, it's hard to say without seeing what you enquiring to do because a lot of things must be taken into consideration, i.e what space you have to work with, how the sub-frame layout is, make sure there will be no headroom issues, landing clearances, etc. and in most cases doing something like this, you will need architectural drawings and a building permit so talking to a local Architect or even a contractor to make onsite evaluation is your best bet, this is not the right place for that... But on the general note, anything can be reconfigured and reconstructed for as long as you have the budget to do it. Good luck