We went with a national franchise company, and the franchisee here near where we live gave a wonderful presentation. The machine we decided on is the Frigidaire iQ. It is fully eco-friendly, has a rotary inverter in the compressor, is a 22 SEER. Comes with a special programmable thermostat with bells and whistles, better quality UV lite (bulb replacement every 2 yrs instead of the usual 12 months), controls the indoor temp with sliding Hz instead of 2 stage, etc. There's also a mfr's rebate of $1000, plus $1510 FPL rebate, and of course the tax credit. Price before tax credit is: approx. $5200. I was very impressed with this guy's knowledge after we had others coming into the house. The SEER is much more than we originally thought we should get, but when faced with a much larger energy saving by doing this as well as the higher FPL rebate (the energy saving was the greater incentive), we went for it. A neighbor went with a Trane 14 SEER (can't understand that - it doesn't qualify for tax credit), and already has had 3 service calls for the great condensation buildup!! I took into consideration the foregoing about Trane not being able to handle the great heat and humidity we have here in So. Fla. Thanks to all for your input. I will update after installation which should take place on Oct. 12th.

@chispa I totally agree. It's wonderful we can all have what we in size, style and hey even location! We've never actually down sized believe it or not. This is our second home and the first was actually a studio apartment. It's just us two and I've never been into larger homes, for myself that is (LOVE looking at them though and seeing what amazing things people do for decor/how they use their space)! UNLESS we are talking two story Victorian... I AM ALL IN! They're my weakness. :) Can't wait to see photos of how you all have used your homes spaces and decorated it from a house to a home, no matter the size! I love them all. :) And thank you everyone who has welcomed me and left such sweet comments. I will definitely go check out the small home section. But I won't be shy about checking it all out. I've seen so many wonderful ideas and I'm still brand new!

Hi everyone, thanks for your opinions and suggestions. However, this post is specifically for entry door & mudroom design ideas... not about adding in fences or landscaping. This is not our forever home and changes need to have some ROI to be worth adding to this old house. ;) I already had a different thread going for landscaping on here that proved VERY helpful in our long term DIY landscaping plans. :) So, we are all set with landscaping plans thanks to some kind folks suggestions and photos on that thread here last year. Also- we enjoy the sunny southern facing deck and we like the new walkway. It works well for our rural region and our neighborhood. The walkway is staying for the next few years and so is the deck. I am not asking about changing those features right now, so please respect that. We will not be able to afford adding in a fence to our three acres for only $5k, plus there is not a need for a fence. This is not our forever home and those changes do not have high ROI. Also, no other neighbors have fences as regionally that’s not our style in this neighborhood. We don’t want to be the only home with a fence. For this post, we are Simply focusing on the entry storm door/ mudroom area and how to improve that while staying true to the Dutch colonial style of our house. I’ve drawn in a really rough idea for roofing to the images below, and I think we are going to add a new storm door to the mudroom entry as well as fix the window placement on either side of the storm door. Our friend is a fine custom home builder here near Ithaca and can help us, but I wanted to see if this community had suggestions before we talk with him. Thanks in advance for your kind and respectful suggestions.

when I buy houses I get every contractor there is out to inspect the critical elements, someone mentioned above HVAC, roof, septic if applicable - to cover the big stuff... if I think aesthetic work needs doing I get a contractor out (usually your realtor knows at least one) and get an idea for costs from them. I then use that info to decide whether I think the aesthetic updates make sense vs the purchase price or you if they're even in my budget at all. if not then I either have to live with things or work around them or walk away. If this is going to be your forever home you can do it over time but plan on big bucks for the columns and the kitchen. professional painters are big bucks too.