The picture is no help. move the camera up to the city sidewalk, in line with the front door, and take a series of slightly overlapping pictures that pan the ENTIRE scene from far left to far right, including neighboring houses in the first and last pics. Unless you move the cars for the picture, we wouldn't be able to see left of drive. Please take when light is good. Above picture much too dark.

I have a general aversion to paving that meets the foundation of a building. Reminds me of strip malls. It looks like a hot patio area. I would not spend to recreate a pergola which you may not even want. I would remove them and attempt to make the house itself more appealing. Before any of that I would see to having the tree trimmed that is flopping on the roof. It is bad for the shingles in addition to making the house seem abandoned. As an avid gardener I also have to say that caring for a vine on a pergola is not work free. Some vines need to be trained or tied and pruned when needed. Also, leaves and flowers fall on the pavement and need swept up. A gardener might enjoy that work but many people do not. Not to mention that roses and bougainvillea both have thorns. It is just something to consider. A more long term goal would be to remove some of the paving to allow for foundation plants.

Privacy wall is very, very nice. 4 X 6 rugs - is that about the size of space on each side of middle pillar / post? If yes, then no, I don’t think it would be odd but will be very symetrical. A good thing for me! Question -do you need shade to sit out on porch? I’m thinking about roll up kind of shades mounted on the porch side of the fascia trim.. Invisible from the street. There are easy ways to hold or tie down the shades if breezes are a problem.. We have a rollup shade on our west facing porch. Makes our porch so much more usable. ETA Another thought - agree that table is too large. I’m thinking two small tables, one between each set of chairs…Goes well with having two rugs.

What a charming location — except for the view of the neighbors. I would be more concerned with screening my view of them than how the house looked to other people. Take away the railings and add a pergola, Eztend a large garden well into the lawn. Plant tall flowers (I’d even grow some vegetables like sweet peas!) and layer in some trellies for flowering vines. Create a kind of room out there, one that is mainly open, both in the open ”walls” and a very airy pergola-roof. On the other side of the house do a window box, or a wide 3-tier planter under the window. Get shutters that are actually functional.