Okay, I'm asking forgiveness in advance for opinionated comments: In everyday living, exterior stairs get wet, slippery, cold, icy. And, unless exquisitely designed (to be a statement of elegance), they look tacky. Statements of elegance are quite often inconvenient to live with, although one can bask in the initial admiration of visitors. I know that in some areas, exterior stairs are a... neighborhood tradition; a statement of necessity. And all too often, they look it. I think the architect's foyer is rather big, but oh my, the opportunity to make a decorating statement!! OTOH, I suspect 12x14 may be in proportion to the house. The architect needs to bend his brain so that the top of the staircase does not interfere with your views. I do hope someone has realized that an elevator would be of even greater use, especially if anyone breaks a leg, brings in the groceries or hauls out the trash. And if DW wants a traditional entry, an elevator could certainly take one up to the usual doorway.

Thinking reds/burgundy, orange/copper colours. Best place to look is Sherwin-Williams Historic Exterior Color collection. It's in the back of the new ColorSnap fandeck and they also have brochures (some stores still do anyway).

I like the pergola idea by your entry, but, I do like the brown that you have, and also like your brick. It looks like you dont have a place up near the house, for real landscaping, but, it appears you do have pots, that I assume you are planting colorful flowers in when the weather permits? It does need some color to brighten it up, although, like most of us, there is that thing about the leaves all falling off the trees, called winter. Maybe in the spring, you could do some nice landscaping on the yard side of the driveway, that would help with the need for better landscaping.

Remove the chair next to the window. It looks like a chair for timeouts or something all alone by itself. I don't think anything is particularly wrong with the view. If you wanted to soften the wall, you could add curtains around the window. You could also add a console table behind the sofa back and a runner along the floor.