I would embrace the element, but I would get rid of the wood chips. I'm thinking back fist sized river rocks. Then I would get a tallish flowering tropical such as hibiscus and add a few ivy plants to grow between the rocks. Additionally, a small water feature might be nice. For me, the bigger problem with the entryway is the door. You have an obviously contemporary home, yet you have a -very- traditional door. I would want a wood door with some sort of art glass element in it. The wood would of course need to be stained to match the existing woodwork. The door will be some big bucks, but it would remain regardless of flooring changes. These two doors are not specific recommendations, but examples of the type of entry door I have in mind. Best wishes!

I was thinking maybe a pergola so that you can still enjoy the sun when necessary but have a small area where you can just relax with your family. What were you thinking?

Without knowing any more info , I'd say its near impossible for anyone but you to know what colour/s to choose -- do you want the house to blend in but have its own style , or do you want it to stand out ? What colours are your main furniture items and even kitchen etc ? For xxample , if keeping the beige walls , how about doing the eves and gutters and garage door in a tangy ( bright , but not glaring ) orange -- this would work with the existing colours and not require a complete repaint . BUT if your kitchen was mainly various shades of , say , green and teal , and your lounge suite and duvet covers were mainly blue hues , that may 'feel' funny , clashing with the exterior ? Of course , blue and beige exterior may not work with the brown aluminium , as youve recognised . Another option ( a bit hard to tell from the pictures ) is that a light grey ( repaint the beige ) with mid-charcoal base boards may work with the brown aluminium , then a bright colour on the gutters and front and rear doors to suit -- anything from sea blue to bright yellow , orange , red , even white or off-white would probably work .

We've recently shifted into a re-developed 1980s home. This front garden has been stripped of former shrubs and trees and re-planted. There is nice topsoil for about and 3-5cm, then it's very wet, clay-like and difficult to dig. There are a lot of notorious weeds including clover, buttercup and two types of ivy. The jasmine (creeper in the centre) is going because we suffer hay fever. I'm considering an evergreen clematis in it's place. I'm concerned that some of these shrubs will grow much too big for the spot. I'm not really fond of some of the low growing ones either. And my biggest concern is the soil... So, BIGgest question number one: should I remove all of these plants and treat the soil? It needs a good rotary hoe, compost dug in, covered with weedmat for a season in an effort to kill off the weeds... etc etc I could pot the shrubs and either keep them for replanting when the garden is ready, or sell them. I'd like to include some sort of feature (stone item?) and a pretty small ornamental like a japanese maple or maybe crab apple. Maybe some sort of rockery, or being part shady could include some woodland plants instead.. Or even a short meandering path as the garden is quite wide (and my 4yo loves to run through it of course...) I guess what I do with it the options are endless. Probably worth noting that this garden is alongside our front path and front entranceway. But is it worth ripping out those shrubs and starting over with the soil, or do I leave the soil be and simply re-arrange what is there? Thanks for your help!