Having been transplanted to Canada from Asia, I suppose I could try to help out with this. Most cottage gardens look like a wild delightful mass of blooms from a variety of plants. There's no rigid lines, simply have plants crammed into one area. So avoid straight beds, make it meandering. Look for cottage garden styles and try to notice how things are set together. Look at colour groups and also forms. I agree that you need a small tree beside your place. There's a tree which I believe is called a fire tree in asia, but I just cannot remember the correct name. That might be useful but then there's the issue that it can attract the poisonous hairy caterpillar. There's another tree that has pink orchid like flower. I think that would be suitable. Most cottage gardens have vines and so I suggest bougainvilla's would help. I know my grandparents used to keep hydrangeas, gerber daisies, roses even in temperatures warmer than what you'd describe. You can also utilize hibiscus plants to add to your blooms. A form of cosmos will help but the kind of cosmos that live in Asia seed far too easily and therefore is a nuisance. What else can produce profuse blooms? Jasmins for one, balsams,celosias, something called vietnam rose, but it's a form of succulent, begonias, geraniums, gladiollas. Vines can include trumpet vines. Don't forget angel's trumpets which technically speaking has been used in cottage gardens here. There's also the hyacinth vine. Plumbago as well. Bromeliads and orchids although quite tropical looking are often used in Asia. Birds of Paradise might just be a tad too much tropical. Same for all the gingers, palm trees and bananas. There's more.. I recall even the garlic vine but I think that although it's a very fine looking plant, it's scent can be too strong.

Your MACs do look demure at the moment. I have 3 MACs in different settings (yes, I am nuts), all about 7 to 9 years old, and just went out and measured them. With pruning (and in the case of the one growing in decent soil on the west side of the house, "muscular" pruning that takes one day each twice a year; the other in crummy conditions, just one day a year), MAC on a pergola or trellis can be kept about 12 to 15' tall, 14' wide, and 9-10' deep. The third MAC, in partial shade and lousy soil under a huge old pepper tree that sucks up most of the water and nutrients, is about 20' tall and 16' wide and 12' (at least, wanders over to my neighbors trees at that point -- new neighbors whose screams I expect to hear any day now when they realize how far Madame Al is over in their trees...). This one is allowed to run amok (obviously) and is all mixed up with what I think is Fellemberg (was supposed to be Parson's Pink, long story) and is lovely, but is obviously motivated by the extra shade of the pepper tree to stretch. MAC actually tolerates pruning rather well, but intelligent pruning (don't create witches' brooms). Like you, I originally planted two MACs at my entryway and ended up removing one: one is enough here. Conditions in your yard may well differ. I have all the ones on your "new candidates" list. Jaune Desprez is just as rampant as MAC but worse because of vicious thorns (I dearly love it, but it costs in blood). Marechal Niel is so far modest-sized at roughly 10' x 4' after three years, but that's not long enough to know; some I have seen are definitely big. On the other hand, MN has a reputation as something of a fussy-buttons and is not looking like a house-eater here yet, though parked in prime real estate, so maybe not as rampant. Buff Beauty is definitely the "mannerly climber" it is often descrbed as. I have kept one at 7' tall and 4' wide and 16' long along a fence for about 9 years. Debbie

Yep, my PB was upfront saying that there would be 200,000lb equipment in and out of my yard. I am not all that sharp but fiqured out, if it rained during this (which it did)the yard damage would be much worse. I did underestimate the damage that would occur to my neighbors yard but I promised him I would have it looking new again after the pool was complete. They will do a rough grade when they do the clean up and it will just take a yard of topsoil (4 bucks), 100 ft of PVC for the sprinkler (40 bucks) and 3 pallets of sod (300 bucks) to get my neighbors and my yard back to looking awesome. Most if not all PBs will include full dirt and sod service but will jack the price way up as they should because the are pool builders not yard guys. You can hire this service out for a decent price or do it yourself for next to nothing.

You could add a front porch with a forward facing gable roof from halfway between the entry door and the window to the left of it that extends to the right front corner of the home. You could then move the front door out to the exterior wall enabling it to both be protected from the elements and let in light -- even more light if you add glass to the peak of the gable skylights to its roof. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/667799450970047461/ https://www.pinterest.com/pin/53339576821620149/?lp=true https://www.google.com/search?biw=1328&bih=617&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=pN7FXYWQA-3A5gKshZaACQ&q=wide+forward+facing+gable+roof+porch+on++ranch+style+house&oq=wide+forward+facing+gable+roof+porch+on++ranch+style+house&gs_l=img.12...42706.43029..44839...0.0..0.84.162.2......0....1..gws-wiz-img.F_TFNzPgHck&ved=0ahUKEwiF8uqDyNvlAhVtoFkKHayCBZAQ4dUDCAY#imgrc=awZSkIL5bKPWzM:&spf=1573248722337