I do not find it disconcerting in the least that the door is not centered. Having it off-center in the porch area is as common as air. It might seem more noticeable now because the house has an unfinished look and a certain "emptiness" about it, which will all change as you add landscaping and the finishing touches. The black shutters seem okay ... like black eyeliner making the window features look larger. But the black posts remind me of black lipstick or fingernail polish. They look ghoulish. So I'd paint those white and another thing that would make the porch seem stronger visually is the addition of filigree trim at the top (at both front and sides.) I've used this before and it makes a huges difference. The trim I'm speaking of is made to go at the top of cabinets so it's a ready-made, big-box item. Or you could make something if you're handy with simple carpentry. One more thing I'd do there is add full length shutters along each side of the door to expand its size and importance. (This, again, is along the lines of how eyeliner makes eyes look larger.) If the door seemed larger, the porch area it would seem less "empty" looking. If ready-made shutters won't clear the utilities, make a pair of simulated shutters that will. They don't have to match existing shutters. And I'd paint the door and door frame white, too. (The darker grey adds a gloomy, instead of cheery, touch, I think.) A bench or seat of some time below the porch window would be a nice touch, too. You stated that everything was now paved, so it's probably too late for my walk suggestion. However, if not, I'd create a walk that acts as a landing for the entire front of the porch so as to make entering it seem like a spacious, unconfined experience. It would also leave some space for planting at the left side of the garage. Since that's blank wall space, a pair of matching small trees could flank the garage. (Such trees would be made of shrubs that only get 9'-10' height so as to minimize maintenance. One would pick the shrub that adds the particular personality they are looking for.) The rest of the plant suggestions are more or less self explanatory as to heights you might consider and the placement of foliage masses. This post was edited by Yardvaark on Tue, May 28, 13 at 10:38

hi, its been a long time, but i would love to see the pictures from your build! my HFGH just arrived today and I'm so excited to put it together without crying! Your profile on photobucket is set to private, would you mind sending me a link? thanks!

Perhaps if you had squared the frame to start with the doors would have worked. I read all this drama over the doors mine is in it's 4th season and the doors work fine. In the spring I can crack the doors and let in some cool air and they will stay in place can't do that with a swinging door a gust of wind would whip it around into the GH and tear something up. I mention to my wife that many people was installing swinging doors and she said I don't want them the ones we have work fine so if the little woman can slide them and no reason she can't they slide real easy. In my opinion the sliding doors are MUCH better than a swinging door that must remain latched or it will be tore off by the wind.

Marcie, your question came at a very fortuetous time.. I just today finished installing screens on my Clearspan Prostar 12x24 Ghouse. I too was baffled on how to do so until I visited my local LOWE"S store. They have this porch creening "system" that I found fits the bill just fine. it is a plastic "profile" about inch and a half wide with two channels to hold the screening and the spline. The instructions in the link below shows an installer using wood screws to attattch to a porch BUT I had very good luck using selftapping sheet metal screws (#10-3/4") to attach the system to the aluminum frame of my intake vent( which is aluminum ) the system also includes cap strips of assorted colors to cover the screws. System also works best with the .175 inch screen spline. Here is a link that might be useful: porch screening how to at Lowes