My sister had a very generic back yard/patio. A few years after moving in they decided to re-do the entire back area. She had 3 landscape firms draw up plans, explaining that she wanted each to provide their best ideas and bid on the project. She picked the one that best fit her needs, but did end up incorporating some ideas from all 3.

House color should probably match the siding color Romabio offers these as standard, though they can be applied in a solid color. It might be interesting to have some of your brick show through the limewash to add texture to the house. Not totally see thru but enough so that it might hide any dirt that accumulates on the surface. Maybe upgrade the garage door in the future.

Thanks RL Relocation LLC, yes this is why we went with centre, because of the door and window. The reason why we went with centre also as opposed to the side was mostly so we didn’t over complicate the space. I was dead against a tv over the fireplace to start with, but too many people have disagreed with me and now I agree. We will be decorating the space nicely eventually and can adapt our decor accordingly. If we build in to the side we will not have room. We have a dining room, but it has a pool table in it at the moment, and we have another lounge room, but it is smaller, which we may put the pool table into so we can use the dining room as it was intended. But the living room space cannot be used like this at the moment, so it is what it is. It is all so frustrating and hard. My main question is, if we don’t go with the design suggested, a flat stone face, and instead for the timber ledge, are we really going to ruin the house by going ”too modern” as my builder has said?

If you're wanting a more rustic or mountain cabin look, you could use cedar with a natural wood finish but most country porches ended up being painted white. The posts are not larger than 6"x6" and many end up being smaller and round and more ornate with white railing (though I prefer the plain 6"x6" myself). Like these posts: http://acountryfarmhouse.blogspot.com/2012/06/our-front-steps-and-walkway.html You could extend the depth of your porch so that the overhang of the front of the porch roof extends to be even or nearly even with the two story left wing of the home and do consider a concrete porch floor-- it will last a lot longer. You create a block foundation/form, fill in with hard packed dirt and then pour a 6" floor that slightly overhangs the blocks ... which you can face with brick or stone. Then you can use the same brick or stone to enhance the curb appeal of your home and its new entry door. With the new door, showcase it with some great brick or stone steps at least as wide as the door. Since you need only a few steps and have a wall on the left side of the porch, consider starting the steps across from the front door so they are covered with the deeper porch roof and have the front of the bottom step even with the front of the front porch, adding a brick or stone wall between steps and the porch to the right of the steps that can be usable as a railing ... in lieu of adding an actual railing. On the right side of the porch consider adding a "gazebo" feature -- there are different kinds of roof designs you can use if you don't want to just use a hip roof corner -- and have the front porch wrap around that right front corner of the house at least enough to create the wider gazebo feature and add steps leading from the porch toward the back yard. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/112730796896550817/ If you're wanting rustic or mountain, you could use cedar with a natural wood finish but most country porches ended up being painted white. Know your local building codes. You may be required to have a railing or wall depending upon the height of the top of your porch floor. Depending upon the building codes and whether you have small children that actually need a rail ,,, since your porch is not that high off the ground, and especially if you add depth to the porch so there is less likely to be people bumping into each other knocking each other off the porch, you might consider just adding a hedge in front of the porch rather than replacing the railing. Alternately, if you do decide on a concrete floor with the front faced with brick or stone, you could create a brick or stone "railing" and even have it be able to double as seating or a wall usable for a plant stand for your favorite flower pots..