Thanks Orangecamera. It's still a work in progress and mud everywhere Sorry we did look at having the steps' off set' but it didn't seem to go with only three steps and a small area. And about the zen well the cats are doing that for us much to our disappointment (it's still like a litter box to them). We went to the garden supply place still not knowing what kind of stones we were getting. We stood in front of all the bins (there where many). We even looked at mixing some. The grey stones had a bin more the size we wanted but we ended up getting the golden fleck. It was a little smaller, which was a shame, the bigger ones were so mixed in their grading it looked too messy. So this is what we finished up with. It was seagardens that got me thinking away from grey and nwduck mentioning the drainage. So this has really helped. Also everyone seem to think the wooden steps needed to go a lot lower. Next it's figuring out where the large river stones should go

I have a 1970s townhouse that we are wanting to modernise - especially our front entrance. We are trying to decide what to replace our front window which is yellow old fashioned glass with. We have a private front garden so no one can see in from the road however not sure if we should still have some privacy glass given it’s beside our front door. Our options are an obscure glass such as cathedral design or to put clear glass in and do an interior window covering such as a blind if we find we do want some privacy at a later date. Just not sure what would look best from the outside. Any suggestions would be welcomed!

Goodbye to the brown front door and opaque glass. Joiner hubby was able to rebuild the existing door to create five panels and to rework the frame to have two side window panels to give a more balanced look. A moment of inspiration sent me to the sign writers to create the house number nineteen for the top glass panel. It looks like it has been sand blasted. When the sun shines through the nineteen, the neetenin shadow cast on the wall is an amusing note. Very pleased with the outcome.

Ahhhh -- the 80's ! I know you said no tiling , but the steps look lop-sided / unfinished . At the very least , move the plank on the left side to anywhere it can't be seen , if you have more matching tiles it needs 2 tiles width added to that left side IMO . If you don't have any more , and can't get matching ones , then go with charcoal , redo the whole bottom step charcoal ( so it all matches , and also so you'll hopefully be able to save some of the existing beige tiles that you've removed ) but again , just me , I'd extend the bottom step at least 1 tile width extra , both to the left and the right -- so the left side is tiled out past the 'gold' window glass ( I'm being polite ) , the right goes another 30cm rightwards , or maybe right to that wall . You could even have nice glossy pots sitting each side , each with a nice plant or 2 . The existing white paint might come up better with a waterblast , it might be okay as is , or it might need a repaint -- stick to a clean white . The mission brown door and step could go bright red or orange , or charcoal . Charcoal is more on-trend , and goes better over the brown , although do some prep work otherwise it will look amateur . I like the Wow of the brighter colours though , but its your choice . Bright and clean , for under $500 , or maybe $2k if you extend the lower step ( concrete or similar ) and get new tiles .