I like @kelly's idea of picking a lovely fresh color of paint for the door. You can then bring it down onto the stair risers. Either a solid color to match the front door, or go wild and add some decorative elements to the risers with stencils. Or think of staining the door a great color and coordinate the stair railings and risers. I have an idea book put together for just such project that might spark some ideas for you. http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/16700983/thumbs/Kathryn-Delany-s-Decorative-Stair-Risers

HI --- Why is the yard paved , it looks so barren ? The color "Willow " by Benjamin Moore Paints would work with what you have . I am not a fan of the roof color ... if you change that , you could go with a textured dark brown or go to a textured charcoal or a grey . Maybe make the front door stand out more with a color ... maybe a rich dark green or a Navy like "Polo". But this house would look wonderful with a veranda /deck/porch from the front door to the opening just in front of the last window on the right ,in the color like the windows and trim . For the landscaping .. if your keeping the paving I would say get some big planter boxes . I would remove some of that paving because the house could use some trees etc. If so then I would plant a cut leaf weeping birch just left front of the window but mature tree spread away -about 20 feet. Also see if that down spout can be moved to come off the side ,instead of on the front . And add some exterior lighting to accent the house .

Looks like the dark window trim is trying to steal that beautiful ceiling's thunder. I have had both stained and painted trim. With stained trim I stayed with lighter colored, neutral/dusty wall colors as not to compete, lending a warm look. With light color, painted trim work, I could go more colorful and the trim really pops, Rooms look fresh and bright. Practically speaking: White trim required more frequent cleaning, but was much easier to repair and repaint the dings and scuffs. Polyurethaned wood trim required less maintenance but it was trickier, especially moisture and sun damage. Beautiful space, by the way!

Thanks for all the great ideas everyone and sorry I didn't explain the polycarbonate a bit better :) This is along the lines of what we'll be using... http://www.psp.co.nz/building-brands/corrugated-sheeting/suntuf-polycarbonate The area is an absolute sun trap and we're hoping to use it as an extension to our living space, especially on rainy days! I've just sent my husband out to get a few pots of different stains for is to try - darkest brown (cedar) and a lighter brown (rustic oak) both by Cabots + the black we already have. Hopefully we can decide between one of those! I probably should have mentioned we will have black aluminium pool fencing running along the top of the second retaining wall - so the real question is do we keep everything black (pool fencing, horizontal fence, retaining walls and pergola) or do we go with a dark (or even light) brown for the pergola and retaining walls.... We just keep going around in circles at the moment. Decisions, decisions! Thanks again :)