Sorry the old deck was just plain ugly IMO anice concrete deck made to follow the curve would be my choice and then either stamped finish or a nice overlay of tile to go with the style of the house sort of like this idea

One of my in-laws houses is curvy like that. A lot bigger entrance, but curvy. They have a stucco look on the house. It works well enough for the vibe of the build. But wouldn't be my personal choice.

I grew up in an area of a lot of FLW era influence, and a lot of curves to be had. I have seen curve like that done in brick, and beautiful. Glass topped brick, a delight. Glass brick wall, nice, but dated or only for some styles of home. Stone can be good if done well. Vertical wood looks wonderful, mosaic wood can be really iffy/artsy. Horizontal wood can be amazing if it's curved properly before install.

the bow or curve is likely just framed out, once you remove the siding, you can square it off.

I would clean it all up so you can have space on either side of the double doors.

Adding some thicker trim to the front door to make it a focal point.

Good time to add electrical for light fixtures.

A photo of the whole front elevation would help.

The size you like, but can you change up the approach? Does it access the driveway?

Id keep the curve. please don't do narrow curved steps up to it. i prefer the shape of the deck you had before but but it is hard to say without seeing the whole front. also what siding are you putting on.

Keep the lovely curved walls of siding. Before revamping the deck area, foundation area and front yard, this would be a good time to review fire safety. If you need to remove some trees or brush, you may have a more spacious deck with better view.

Please show an update when you are ready.

The curves are nice and I can see why you would want to high light them more. Are you willing to move the stairs so they are more in line with the front door instead of at an angle to the front door?

Yeah, the cement curved steps thing is kind of awful. However, applying the curve notion to the new deck might not be a bad idea. You could soften the edge of the deck with a curve when you rebuild it. Use its curving rail to draw the eye to the curve of your entrance. Stairs could have a flare out to a curve, scroll in around the planter. The angular nature of your old deck wasn't as complementary as a curved one might be.

You could even lean hard into it. If your house siding is say, a soft grey side of green. The wood of the curves being a darker wood, perhaps with a red or rusty undertone to it. Maybe with a smooth stained look rather than a painted one. Carry that tone with the railings to the deck. Or if you want to go more mod, a darker tone for the siding, and brushed brass or steel vertical strips for the curve- with the deck dark and the railing horozontal in the same metallic tone to draw the eye.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'd forgotten in my post to mention that the siding will be Hardie fiber cement, country lane red. It will be horizontal clapboard most of the house, but the center section in the front (including this entrance) will be vertical battens.

The entrance is accessed as seen here:

There is a stone wall next to the path in the photo. The approach will always be from the driveway from this perspective; there is a stone wall alongside the entry path with a small dropoff onto ground that has a moderate gradient.

For some reason the photo didn't post in my last update:

I'd curve the deck to follow the right hand curve, but also consider the path curve.

When planning the replacement deck, consider having solid risers on the steps. Can imagine how much tree stuff falls underneath those steps. I looked up the Hardie siding and country lane red is going to really be a big change! Hope all turns out well for you.

Yes, I’m trying to prepare myself for how differrent tht house will look- not just the color, but a mostly horizontal clapboard with vertical siding in the center section. The virtual photos cant really give a real impression. We would have gone all vertical but it would have an alrwady hugely expensive job completely out of reach.

Country lane red, that's gonna pop. I like it :) And doing most of the house in horozontal will make the vertical of the entrance pop too. Nice. Are you keeping or changing trim and door colors?

New trim and gutter colors will be Timber Bark. If we do go with an entrance deck with steps leading to down to the right, any thoughts on what decking should go over the frame- composite, cedar, stained / painted or something else?

I really like beesneeds idea of softening it with an outside curve, with the stairs widening out down to the path. That would be a lot more work for me to study, plan and build, so I'm not sure if it's in the cards for me, but I'm going to take a look at what's involved.