Bring the front edge of the deck even with the front of the house,

My thought too!! That way you can move the 'entrance' closer to where the stone steps hit the top of the climb.

@Yardvaark thank you very much. The stone steps are just so we dont have to walk around the japanese maple and we just added them for that reason. I am trying to incorporate your suggestion into a pic of the new deck, is this what you were referring to with wide steps? See below pics of deck ideas

The other option is not having a deck at all or having a stone deck with landscaping around like @misecretary and @arcy_gw are saying but not sure exactly how that would look or work

Do you have doors on the garage and can you actually get the entire car inside? The garage addition adds a contemporary feeling to the original brick house and the white trim and railing are not working. The trim around the garage is jumping off the house and the porch or deck railing is very traditional and in conflict with the image of the garage addition. You should consider a contemporary look overall done in darker charcoal gray with cedar trim and a cedar and cable deck. Replacing the white with dark charcoal or cedar will make a huge impact, as will cable railing. Do it as you can afford, and eventually stain the brick part of the house gray to match the front. See Romabio for matching masonry stain.

Cedar and gray on a boxy house with no white.

Ames · More Info

Entry idea; see how charcoal works with the wood.

Olympia Residence · More Info

Cable railing deck

Viewridge · More Info

Garage doors

West Hills Remodel · More Info

In your introductory statement, you say that you're interested in changing "... the front deck into a more pleasant entry way." Let's compare the existing deck to two concepts. Presently, it seems sized such that it could accommodate 3 or 4 people entering. In my concept I haven't the size of the deck much. I've widened it just a little, mainly to allow for building wider steps ... maybe twice as wide as the current steps. It might accommodate an additional person or two. In your concept drawing, you've changed the deck from merely an entrance, to one sized for family gatherings -- lounging, dining, BBQs, etc. Is that how you intend to use the deck? If it is merely an entrance, it does not make sense to overwhelm the space with a lounging and entertaining deck sized for a family ... unless you are receiving visitors in groups numbering into the teens.

First, figure out its purpose and base its size on that. Then work out its configuration. Whether its a wood deck or masonry porch structure doesn't matter to its function, as either can do the job. The materials will have more to do with durability, maintenance and the visual, artistic impression that you are trying to make. In general, I think people value masonry porches as the superior ones, b ut it isn't necessarily always that way.

Thanks @decoenthusiaste, excellent suggestions! yes we are planning to get the whites out and put a garage door (we are on a slope, so the garage doors are off by 3 inch is the issue) I was also concerned that we dont have a good entry way and front door which is what I was trying to check on.

I noticed that all your pics have similar side slope like ours which is great but the two halves of the house are flush with each other. We have that small front yard on the left. Is it worth getting rid of the front yard and somehow make it flush with a deck or some other structure with front door? Doesnt have to be a livable space/addition that needs permits or is expensive, just for making it look modern.

Whitewashing brick can do that but it will still be offset which may or may not be OK

Romabio can match masonry stain for the brick to your gray paint on the garage, or go darker for both, which I would do. Since you need a functional entry and not really a deck, you could do something like pic #2 I posted and take the roof of it all the way to the street end of the garage. Over the front door the roof could be solid for weather protection, but as it extends toward the street, you could have open slats like a pergola to let light through. You wouldn't entirely lose the small front yard and the open pergola part could actually be installed over the yard which could be planted as a landscaped bed. The little porch/deck on the second floor above the garage could be done with the cable railing for a modern update to the front. I would avoid whitewash - it is just more white and you don't need that.

Thanks @decoenthusiaste been thinking a lot about how pic 2 can fit our situation but not fully sure I can visualize. I am attaching 2 more pics. Our front door is not facing the street, it is on the side which will be more clear in the new pics.

This is rough, but may help you visualize a short porch and closed overhang like pic #2 which becomes an open pergola on out to the end of the garage. A nice ornamental tree with the garage siding for a backdrop and some flowers. No white trim or decking.