How does a guest enter your home? Through the covered porch or around the garage or through the garage? It appears that the front door is not near the driveway. It appears that the front door is in the back yard. If so, that is the first thing that you need to address. Where do you want people to enter?

Well, you are very correct with your observation!! It is a crazy set up. I'm not really sure what the original owners were thinking when built the house this way! The parking is at the side of the house and garage. There is a sidewalk that goes on the end of the house, around the front and to the front door. Obviously this is not convenient so 99% of the time people enter through the screened in porch which leads into the kitchen. I have never really figured out how to make it "work" to make a drive to the front. There is a fairly steep slope starting about 10' - 15' from the front porch and, to complicate things further, approximately (I'm really guessing as I have not measured the distance) 30' down from the top of the slope is an aerobic septic system and lots of trees! In reality, the front of the house is only visible half of the year due to the woods in front of our house. I would love to have to have the front door as our main guest entrance but.....

The main photo looks like the back of a house. There is no clear entry or welcome. Remove those hanging plants and get a prof landscape architect to come up with a design. You get what you pay for. Shutters do not go on casement windows.

Thank you, I didn't think that shutters were appropriate. The photo was from the real estate listing. I removed all hanging plants upon possession of the house. The first photo is the front of the house. We are on a private road in the woods, it is a beautiful setting but the dang house is not set up for a convenient front door entrance! Obviously I was aware of this issue when purchasing the home and knew that I would make a change but I didn't know what to do.

Rochelle, I do think your idea of adding stone of some kind would help. I will do some research on terraces. I like the idea of the sidewalk around the side of the house being enhanced and connected to a terrace in front of the house. I will research terraces. I think a good amount of lighting would be necessary too, to follow the ...walk...to the front door!!!

I will also look into prof landscapers.

I'm very open to any ideas!

The last photo is the back of the house. The screened in porch is where we almost always enter the house.

Your house is beautiful. A landscape architect can create a plan for you that would transform your home. I hired one for my modest house last year and while it was more than I planned on spending, it was the best investment I have put in this house so far. Good luck!

Perhaps you should check with an architect to see how the front door dilemma can be addressed. We would need a floor plan. Houzz can make suggestions on more interesting front of house but not the main problem without more info.

Dar Eckert, So are you saying that you would actually look at our floor plan? If yes, how would I go about doing that? I would love help on both making front of house look more interesting and how to deal with the main problem. Please let me know how to move forward. Thank you.

Great home! What about changing the color of the garage door so it doesn't blend in with the rest of the house? Or you could add a pop of color with your front doors (the white ones). Good Luck i'm having the same conundrum with my home :-/