Thank you for your suggestions Becky. I love these Houzz help pages.
That color joinery is quite limiting. The ideas of the style of door we should be considering are interesting and helpful. Had not considered translucent glass. A yellow door would go with the kowhai flowers on the stained glass panel. The paving stones have lifted and become unstable, so the steps have to be repaired as well - time for a change!

Paint the seahorse white, washed with aqua. Maybe a coral framed door. A large fountain on the right of the steps in golden bronze and yellow tones. Maybe on the left of the steps, large palm half way up the siding or bird of paradise plant. Add a bench with tropical bright pillows under the right side large palm. Maybe yellow wash the driftwood on the porch.

I think you should stick with the weathered door look even with the new door, and add real glass side lights. I also love the current color scheme. The ONLY thing it needs is a new door mat;)

Okay, here are a few suggestions. I would first either re-stain your front door or replace it all together. I would change the color of the trim around the front door to a white, so it gives you a pop of color. Adding a light fixture on the side wall will give your house a beautiful glow at night. Adding large wood numbers where the seahorse is located (painted white) gives the front a modern/coastal feel to it. Updating with a fun colorful door mat and positioning the planted pots differently might balance out the entryway. Painting a geometric shape design (white) on your planter pots would be a great cost effective update also. Cleaning and trimming the landscape is also a great option. Again, these are just suggestions.....best of luck!

Great - we appreciate all your suggestions. They help to open your eyes to possibilities.

This is an example of my comment above.
Not perfect , Not to scale, but may help

Lashford, is it possible to have a photo showing more of the front elevation? That would be helpful. TY!

My first thought is to repaint the roof trim to a good bright white like LB interiors has tried to show. I like the stone and I like the idea of Yellow trim just for the entry space. Door ideas are all good. I also like the idea of large vertical house numbers, painted a white and not matchy matchy to the door or window trim. I see no lighting and with a low house, I think spotlights would really make it say "Welcome". Not enough of a picture, but can you do the seating or focal garden to the left instead of the right to balance the palm tree. I would rather look at it than sit under it.

check out these DIY hanging planters. We love the gold! www.darbysmart.com/projects/hanging-planters

Here are a couple more pictures that show the angles and roof line of our home.

I forgot to say the trim around the door is aluminum joinery so I don't think we can paint it.

Very nice home. I like the roof lines. Your property is wonderful.

Thank you for your comments and input. I have really enjoyed hearing all of your ideas.

The extra pictures say a lot about the "welcome feeling". It took me a while to figure out that you approach from the side of the house and it wraps around. It hugs the house and gives a very closed in look and then the door is recessed so a person rather "lost" as to where the door is. I think you need to change the landscaping and broaden the approach. Not really my field of expertise but even if you did not widen the walk itself but created an entry garden with seating or a fountain, you give your visitor a more exciting path to walk and then lighten the doorway with new door or paint (from a distance I am thinking red or yellow). Too late for numbers. Too far from the road. A complete patio type of entry would work well for me.

Hi Vivian - you are exactly right! Our visitors have no idea where the front door is, so I am often caught out by people wandering through the garden looking for me. I have widened the path but agree it could be made even wider. I like the idea of creating more of a patio type entrance and particularly like the top right picture. I think it could look great at our place and lush tropical plants grow well here. Is this picture taken from a website where I can see a bit more of what was done to this entrance? Isn't the urn beautiful? Thank you again for your input.

Here is the website and I think there is an email address there to contact the owner. There are multiple views and she has incorporated a koi garden.
http://www.roomzaar.com/rate-my-space/Yards/Ivy--Stone-Entry/detail.esi?oid=507093

;-)

I loved that urn but I do not think the website that it was posted on created it but it is just something they used in one of their projects.

Many thanks for the link and extra pictures. That look suits that home well. I like the idea of walking under a pergola structure of some sort to the front door but have never been able to draw the look I want to achieve so this has given me lots to go on.

"Vivian' Great photos and info posted.

Thank you.

I realize you are looking for simple fixes, and I don't want to discourage you from pursuing the many good ideas you are getting here, but what your rather unique home design really needs is to define the entrance point with a roofing element. Color & landscape might make it more obvious where it is, but without a definitive architectural feature commensurate with the bold design lines of the house, it will always look like a side door.

If you think you are up for that level of design improvement for your home, you'd be best served with an Architect that you feel understands you and take the plunge! Hiring an Architect can be as simple as paying for a few hours of consultation and some sketches, if you need it to be that, and then you are off on your way with a builder.

If you happen be in the Los Angeles area, feel free to contact me, I'd be very interested! Otherwise Houzz has a great "Find a Pro" feature for you to use.

Good luck!

Hello. Thank you for your comments. I appreciate them and agree with you entirely. I have an image of a welcoming front door area in my head but it seems I am unable to get that across to a professional, becaue we paid $2000 for concept drawings but didn't think the results looked right for the house. I figured this was because I didn't have a clear enough idea of what I want. Vivian is correct - the entrance to our home is not obvious and I have tried to correct this by planting. By asking for ideas from the Houzz community and researching what others had done, I was hoping to find that elusive concept before plucking up the courage to try again. I would certainly contact you if we lived in LA, but we are in New Zealand!

Would you please post an image approaching the door (from say 15 meters back), and one looking out (leaving the interior)? Or if you have a plan of the property that helps tremendously.

Handsome climate and environment to live in.

Your other photo shows a patio, do you use this much?

Hello Trevor - thank you for coming in to the conversation. I will post pictures shortly and if I can find the plan I will include that too. We are in the Bay of Islands in the north of NZ, so it is a bit warmer up here. This was a builder's own home and we are lucky to have wooden decks with curved edges around most of the house, which is great for outdoor living. The deck in the picture is out from the ranch slider doors of the lounge. It is about 8 metres long x 2 metres deep and is like an elongated half circle. This area faces the street so we don't spend as much time sitting on the deck as we do on the back more private deck area.

@lashford Yeah... we travel, but NZ is a LONG way!

Your home design is challenging, there is no question about that. Your previous shot at design may have been due to lack of clear idea on your part, or the talent of the designer, neither or both.

Don't be discouraged; there are usually many ways to solve a design challenge, and it sometimes just takes time to get to it. For that reason we like to present as many different approaches as we can in schematic stages. It helps flush out how the client feels about what they want, especially when they themselves don't even know. Hunting for images and suggestions here on Houzz is a great way to help yourself sort out what you feel good with.

Good luck, and don't give up!

Here are the pictures from and to the front door as well as the portion of the plan that shows that area. Hope they help give you an idea of what we are trying to achieve.

just looking at the sky in all the pictures I have posted, it looks like we never have clear, sunny days! It is winter here but not cold - yet.

I just remembered you mentioned pergola and I think that might be a good solution. Place a pergola in front of the entrance but out from the house so that it can be seen from the parking area. Bring out the stone to meet it and build a short horizontal wall to connect the two so you have a visual line to the house. I would place at a slight angle. Extend your walk to more of a patio and on the yard side do a small fence to keep people from wandering out into the yard and you have established another horizontal line back to the pergola. You could add another at the along the path closer to the beginning but I would make it smaller, more of a complimentary archway that says go thru here. Ideas below but I would go smaller but I like allowing only two doorways for your walk. You could add pathway solar lights.

Thank you again for all your input Vivian - it is so appreciated. I agree with Trevor and Michael above, that whatever is put there needs to complement the house design as it has so many angles. After spending all that money and not ending up with a design we are happy with has made me tentative to find someone else until I have a clear idea of what I want. That is where Houzz is so helpful. Regards Ruth

You have a beautiful house.
A low cost and maybe temporary solution would be a few strategically placed colourful plants in pots along your path, leading to the front door, with a big bang of colour near the entrance. This will lead the eye to the front door and makes it stand out more.
Another option is to give the door a more vibrant colour.
I like LB Interiors' suggestion a lot.

Have you ever studied the work of Frank Lloyd Wright? That was the first thing I thought of when I saw the unique lines of your house. His Usonian houses had flat roofs and he used extensions to define spaces around the houses. Entrances were often in unusual places but he always directed people exactly on a path that is intentional.

Hello Vivian - Thank you again for being so helpful. I have always admired Frank Lloyd Wright's work although I haven't studied it. The clean lines appeal to me. I will do some homework and maybe I will find something to take along to an architect so he/she knows where I am coming from.

Hi Vivian,

Have you thought about adding exterior lighting to highlight your front entry? We have hundreds of options. A number of them would complement the clean lines of your home.

I like potted plants, but in your case, they make the entry look a bit crowded. I think that moving the planting interst outside, and losing the pots right there would open things up a lot. I think giving the door itself an accent color would help, and I like LB Interiors general idea of adding some things for color accents to the surround. Some bold plants with yellow or chartreuse/yellow leaves or flowers like Phormium 'Duet' Sedum "angelina' Euphobia characias, or something like Kangaroo paw plant Anigozanthos, would help give some color and interest to the plantings around the door. Using plants with brighter, paler colors adds light and contrast to the space. Could also add one large flat stone of contrasting color inset into the paving as kind of an outdoor 'welcome mat'

Thank you for your suggestion. Yes, this is something we will definitely add. At the moment there are two downlights that are on a sensor, but some of the lights on your discussion pages are gorgeous and I am sure we would find one that would llook great there.

Hi Jonathan, great suggestions! I will take the pots away which I am sure will open up the porch. Looking at the pictures, the cedar has weathered a grey (gray!) colour (color - why is our spelling so different!) and looks quite dour, although the dull day the picture was taken on didn't help. Brightening up the pots as ambiance-at-home said above, plus some brighter planting around the door is also something I will do. Thank you, thank you!

Hi everyone - thank you all for your suggestions/comments. I will be away from the computer for the next couple of days and look forward to reading your posts when I get back.

And, what did you do?

I just had to place an orange Crestview door up there :)

Thank you so much for your comment after all this time. The colour you have suggested brightens the front door area beautifully and if the two red pots were painted in a tone to match, we think it would look great. Not sure if you can get Crestview doors in New Zealand but there must be something similar. We like the idea of going away from another cedar door - mainly because it would stand out too much while it was weathering. I don't know whether we would have been that brave but the tangerine works so well with the jade green of the joinery. I have re-laid all the stones and put a new wider front step in. The timber colour will soften down in time. I put a big pot in the garden to draw visitors to the front door and have added some colourful bromeliads to the garden alongside the house to make the area a bit more cheerful. We can't make a decision about what to do with a larger 'overhang' to protect the front porch yet - it is a project in progress. Thanks again for your post.

There are no Crestview doors in the Netherlands either, but I assume there will be something similar, at least more modern than the one you have now, some glass in it. The steps look great! Nice job!

The hanging ornamentations on the siding could be whitewashed to be seen. Love the new step and plants.

Thank you for your comment after all this time. We have a new door! The old one was terrible and water seeped through in our predominantly NE winds. We couldn't quite bring ourselves to add that pop of colour that was suggested, so it is made of aluminium in the same colour as the existing joinery. We were amazed (and lucky) that the original colour hadn't faded after 18 years. I am looking for a nice bright piece of wall art for the wall to the left of the door in the photo but in the meantime I have made something with palm spathes to fill the space. I made the other wall hanging with the fish on it out of a bit of corrugated iron so I need to find something to complement that. We will also get a light in brushed stainless for the wall to the right of the door which will match the handle and latch set on the new door.

Love the door!!!!

Thank you for your comment! I feel the front entrance still looks a bit drab. It could be that weathered cedar look. I would still like an overhang of some sort for extra shelter, but I feel adding too many other items and colours will make it look cluttered. What do you think?

The weathered wood looks great. Maybe you could paint the porch ceiling (how is that part of the roof called in english??) a silvery white/grey?