Okay, let's see if I can catch up on all of your helpful posts! I met with a landscaper and we were pretty much on the same page but there were a few things that I didn�t agree with. Maybe I just have no clue what I'm doing and maybe his recommendations are truly better than the picture I have in my head! I'll be meeting with another designer on Monday to get his take on it. The first guy was free and we just talked about what the plan would be. The second guy charges $50, but will draw up a whole design. They also do driveways, which the first company does not do. The one thing that I really didn't like about the first guy was that I felt like I had seen all of his ideas in my neighborhood already. I don't want something crazy that doesn't fit the house or neighborhood, but I also don't want the same thing everyone else has. How do you get your house to stand out from the others but still "fit"? Just because everyone else has "x" number of garden beds and "x" amount of front yard grass doesn't mean I have to, right? I did read over our HOA docs and they simply state that no more than 20% of the yard can be raised garden beds or container gardens. I would really like to make maintaining the lawn easier and to shade the front a little more. He wasn't on board with that. As I said before our yard is quite short, only 25 ft deep from the sidewalk to the front brick. So that will definitely play a big part in the design. The front tree is a cherry tree (with fruit) and I have been told that it will grow large enough to provide cover for the front window, not too sure about the door. Every arborist and landscaper that I have talked to seem happy with that tree and tell me not to touch it. The shutters have actually done quite well with all of the sun and heat that they get exposed too. No warping or anything. Considering the roof color is a good point. I think the wrought iron color would look great. I still don�t know what I want to do with the door. I have been playing with pictures of the house for days now. I've cut and pasted so many different designs I'm stuck. I think that there are some styles and looks that definitely work, some that definitely don't work, and then there are the in-between ones. I don't mind having my house look a little different then the neighborhood. I have two tri-levels on each side of me and three true 2 story colonials across the street from me. From my mock-ups I think can get away with some different looks that neither of the other two styles could pull off. And that is why I'm stuck. Too many ideas. I think a designers eye is what I need. The other challenge I am having right now is prioritizing what to do with the house first. The inside still needs to be painted. I could use some new furniture too. If I did do painting I would want to update the lighting while the ceilings are getting a fresh coat. As far as the outside goes, we obviously need landscaping. But we could also use new gutters and soffits, possibly a new door, and new hardscaping. My husband would also like to close in the carport. There is just so much to do and I don't know where to start. The changes we have already made to the inside were easy because they were done out of necessity. Really none of these other things have to be done. I think that I would like to focus on the outside simply because I have a 4yr old and 1yr old that make it a little harder to maintain the inside versus the outside. And I can handle the inside myself. I obviously need professional help with the exterior. So, any ideas on how to prioritize my projects?

The sticking on your doors is known as "cove and bead". The convex curved bead is next to the stile and the concave curved cove is next to the panel. In modern versions the position of the cove and bead are often reversed. You can find old doors or you can have doors made in a shop or you could buy an 1 3/4 flat panel door with no sticking and add custom C&B sticking or you can use the modern modified version. The mortise lock set can fit in 1 3/8 thick doors as well as 1 3/4 thick doors. Have you measured the door thickness? older version newer version

When I used the word "contemporary", I meant up-to-date and timely, rather than dated. I didn't mean "modern". I think the square rosette is quite trendy (in a good way) right now, and works well with a variety of styles. For instance, we have similar handles in our 150 year old federal rowhouse. That style does not work well in a modern setting. But you said your house was pretty plain vanilla, so adding a square rosette would be a good way to add some interest and bring the house up to date. That's what I meant when I said "contemporary".

I think yo have two reasonable options: - Get custom doors made. I'm doing that for my house now - but I'm making them myself, so the cost is not an issue. Unless you have a lot of woodworking experience, or know someone who does and is willing, it's an expensive option. Second would be to move the stops back a bit. I did this for a friend on their 1920's house. I routed the wood back about 1/4" on each stop. Not simple, but not super hard either. Best of luck.