When I asked this question at a lighting store, I was told that the light itself should be half on/half off the edge of the countertop below. This supposedly eliminates the shadowing thing, without glare on the granite (in my case). For my pantries, we moved them out a little farther from the cabinets themselves (about 6-8 inches) and then offset them a little so it is set over where the door would open. That seems to have worked very well. Because I have a wall with pantry/double ovens/doorway/pantry/fridge/writing area, we kept the lights all at the same distance and tried to keep them even from each other. :) I'm a symmetry nut... Hope this helps a little... fern76

I've got a fine coating of lovely, lovely dust on my current front door too. But our new iron door is currently being fabricated, and I can't wait to get it! The glass opens from the inside, so will be much easier to keep clean than our current door with its fixed glass panel. This is a mockup of what it will look like:

Because you have a recessed front door, you might consider a rich warm orange/brown coordinated with the brick color family (not too vivid!) to make it feel friendlier and less gloomy and an accent color of similar or slightly darker value from the muted blue/green family for the shutters. Also, you might camouflage the downspouts by painting them the brick color as they're a functional, not decorative detail. Choose the front door color first then the shutter color.

Hi Jenny, I think the problem is not just that it's dark. It's that we can't discern a welcoming entrance and that makes us subconsciously uncomfortable. So I think all the white will help address the hidden entrance. Also the garage is over emphasized. The two plants on either side emphasize the garage even more. I'd trim those down so they are so prominent. I like the white, too. I would put on a porch but since your husband votes no for that I'd try some easier fixes: paint the door and door trim white, get a new light fixture, leave it on during the day, paint the trim around the alcove white, move the chairs and flower pots as it makes the alcove crowded, widen your steps so they run across the whole alcove. You can then move your pots to ground level. I think perhaps the back wall that the door is set into needs to be all white. After these easy fixes, if it needs more, I'd consider possibly adding additional trim work around the alcove to emphasize it more. It's possible to have the alcove area paneled with Azek or boards and painted all white. You can also do something with your landscaping to emphasize the front alcove and make it clear where the welcoming entry to the house is so it isn't so lost in the shadows. For instance a "runway" effect of small boxwoods (not sure if boxwoods are weather proof for your area) on each side of the sidewalk. Additional plants could round out the area as the designer indicated above but having that straight line to your front door I think would emphasize the alcove. Additional ideas - just brainstorming - these may not be good ideas - a pergola around the alcove (search on "pergola at entrance" on houzz), pergola over the garage doors to break up the triangle there. Trellis in white of course alongside the garage parallel to sidewalk. Paint the garage door white to break up the huge expanse of one color (which makes it appear even larger.) Extend roof over alcove forward so you can add a single white pillar at the corner. Look at how the white trim around the bay window is fairly wide and has a lot of presence. I think you need to produce that white outline around the alcove in the same way - wide enough to have presence to draw the eye. The darkness of the alcove may not even matter if the white outline is there to show where the doorway is. There appears to be existing trim outlining the alcove (at least at top and on right hand side). If it isn't wide enough - doesn't have enough presence - you can have an additional layer of wider trim attached to it at a fairly economic cost. You'll have to post pictures so we can see your home in its next phase! Sally