Hello cpartist, here are the elevations which have the deck running on the two sides of the house. I was also digging through the plans this morning and found a spec note from the Architect about the Deck Coating & Waterproofing Deck coating: Liquid applied elastomeric two part urethane traffic bearing surface. Install per manufacturers specification. Minimum 60 mils multi-coat DFT, finish with walnut shell non-slip aggregate. Finish embedded aggregate with aliphatic polyurethane topcoat. 24 gage GSM perimeter flashing, saddle flashing provided and installed by deck coating subcontractor. Prime flashing, center spun polyester flashing fabric over joints. Vulkem 350NF/351NF or GacoFlex U66. There is definitely going to be waterproofing done but the top finish coat(material) is what i was going after. From the note above, it appears to be 'Aliphatic Polyurethane'. I am not sure I've ever heard about this product before. I wish I could see an example of this on the internet somewhere. @jannicone, yes, this is definitely sloped and will be water managed.

None of your windows look to be the style that can handle shutters, so that will save you some money. Let him to the stain job, etc., and you focus on improving the lighting and landscaping. The lantern lights flanking doors need to be 1/3 of the door's height. Are there any lights in the porch ceiling to light all around the house? The ratty looking shrubs by the picnic table need to be removed. Not sure I'd add black to this house. If you decide to paint the house later, you might do the typical white siding and black windows of "modern farmhouse" style if it is still a trend and you like it. A decorative, but not functional, vent in the top of the gable might be ok if you can find one large enough not to be dwarfed by the expanse of wall around it.

Wow! These renderings are beautiful! I love the stone color with the house. I would love the roof over the porch and keep trying to convince my hubby but probably not. We tore down the old wrap around deck & planned to do it again but I have always loved stone porches. Seeing these ideas helps me to imagine it. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this for me. I really do like the steps going off in both directions in the 3rd pic. Just afraid of the cement work cost. Also our land is a bit more sloped than it shows in the pics but these ideas could still be implemented with some tweaks. we definitely have lots of options to consider now. Thanks again. I will try to post updates along the way.

You're welcome. Okay.... I got it. And you do have room for your four chairs together on the right. Try this: The two chairs in the back move to the right rail. Square them off with the rails...not at an angle. Not against the back rail. The two chairs agains the wall square them off...not at an angle. Perfect L shape seating, right? I think that's it. Have you seen the minimal decor as suggested above in the posts? Some are very spare and very very nice. You have enough inspo now. Now that I actually look at your photos your furniture and decor is gorgeous and are spectacular in those colors. You made good choices and the chairs will work. I don't think the sofa/loveseat idea will be necessary. If you want something more, you don't need to spend more than a few bucks at this point. Get cans of spray paint in your colors. Get a cheap sisal rug and DIY spray paint a pattern on it. YouTube it. Paint a bucket, pots, empty picture frames, etc, anything wicker, it's just decor.