Hi Digin, Without actually being in the space, this is what I would do. First, we need to change the hallway effect. It is uncomfortable to most people, makes them walk faster instead of leisurely enjoying the space. I would definitely bring the walkway up to the garage as well as the width of the porch. I probably would turn it towards the drive almost as is but would also have another section going a little down the drive. A walk for you and one for visitors. I would put a small, 4 seasons of interest tree to soften and connect human scale to the hard lines of the tall house. And I would under plant the tree with just one groundcover and carry that groundcover through out the entire area. I can't tell what it looks like under your large window but I do know if it needs hiding, putting 4 round or square shrubs that have to be trimmed is going to look like you are hiding something and does nothing to soften the hard lines of the structure. It is the same feeling that the shrubs along the garage gives. The purpose of foundation planting is to soften the hard lines of a building in an attempt to have it blend in with nature. Why some people plant things that are the same shape as the lines they are trying to soften has always baffled me. That type of designing, of course does have it place but it is dictated by the style of the house and for the most part doesnt work in most situations. I am not sure what exposure you have, nor what the rest of the space is like so again I am winging it. Will you be paving over the porch? If I could do what ever I wanted, I might try to make the step have a much wider tread and try to make it look like an half moon. I might also, not directly in the middle of the garage wall have an arched cutout small enough that it doesnÂt wreck the flow of 2 people walking side by side and possibly espalier or grow something on an interesting trellis with maybe an uplight shining on the wall. All these types of things should be consider in advance for placing PVC pipes under the walk for wires or drip irrigation. There are so many little things that can be done to make great changes. Simple things like, we painted some of our exposed foundation gray because it blended in with the siding better then concrete color. Another simple thing that lots of folks donÂt think about it putting shutters on their windows in the back of the house. It really dresses things up and doesnÂt break the bank. IMO, with your style home it is important to not use a bunch of different types plants, keep it simple and elegant. You want to create a comfortable, not busy approach to your house and that is how your guests will feel when you open the door. The backyard is the living area where you put al the fun, things that are you, like how you decorate the inside of the house. We inherited a builders concrete 2' wide walkway, also have brick and gray siding and pretty much removed all the round and square shrubs that lined poth sides of the walk. It was tough on our clothes when the shrubs were wet. One of my passions is gardening/design, so I plant for me and for what I see, consequently, starting a small bed at the street and adding alittle when ever I could on each side with the plan that the two sides would eventually meet. Good luck, more importantly have fun. My rule is that plants should bring me pleasure and if it is getting on my nerves it then becomes a weed and it is removed. Sorry this post is so long, as I said landscaping is one of my passions and if I can steal a moment to myself, I love to talk design. Ally

Thanks Rhodium, I forgot that we did think about that... for a few moments. The down-side is that we'd also have to leave the deck (that steps down to the patio) at a higher elevation to accommodate the added stone and mortar later, and who knows if we'd ever have the money to complete that, so I thought we should just give it up and accept that stone isn't going to happen. Thanks for the idea though, it's definitely a good one.

The same thing happened to us!! The first level was fine I think the concrete was wet in the stamp just took to it and some grading in the second level the concrete had hardened a little bit more in so when they were hammering the stamp down and it pulled resulting in the cracks. Rainwater will get in the cracks and then freeze and expand and it will start chipping away has this happened to yours?

On the front elevation I'd get rid of the gable over the garage. All it does is lead your eye to the garage and detract from the main body of the house. It's not a feature. The other thing I'd do is insist on them not doing the pork chop returns. Your house has a historical feel to it and that just screams contemporary mass builder.Below the red arrows point to the pork chop returns. Lastly on the rear, you have one window that isn't consistent with the rest of the windows. The one with the arched top. I'd change it to a transom window top to match the other transom windows. BTW: What is above the window I changed? That's a large blank wall on the exterior.