Depending on your goal....beauty?it could be a lovely art piece(tall and slim) ...or function? A corner cabinet for shoes , bags ,coats?...these days home represent a place to relax and rest so I am of the school that the first thing you see as you enter should set the tone of your home,makes you smile ,or feel good

Thanks for responding. We're in Auckland, New Zealand and close to the sea. Outdoor living is quite important but it does get chilly in winter so it's a balance. There are three adults and two young children in the household (one of the adults is an Au Pair who likes to spend time in her own room in the evenings). The kids will watch their cartoons generally in the morning and a bit before dinner. Then in the evening my husband and I will relax and watch TV. Right now the kids' toys are in the family room downstairs. We are foodies and like cooking. Generally when guests come over we all hang out in our small kitchen at the moment. The dining table we use for every meal time. We also like the idea of being able to get to the deck from the kitchen, rather than having to carry food in summer through the lounge/dining. The entry way is that big in order to reduce on the structural work but also in order to ensure that the door to the staircase is not in the lounge.

Thanks for the extra pics. Still thinking along the same line. Trim the bushes by the sidewalk to make the sidewalk more visible and accessible. If you can, replace the package with new door with clear glass or no glass and new sidelights or none. Put in a courtyard that comes out to the white wall with whatever works for you. Pavers, pavers and gravel, low decking, concrete, tile, brick. Anything. Add bench , chairs , mini trees in pots flowers. Make it welcoming. Could even add a trellis over the area. Deck could be made smaller and planting beds put in under Windows for small shrubs or flowers. Grass in the area between the ac unit and the driveway. Add a walk way from drive to the deck in material that works withe the rest. I would add pictures but don't know how.

I had a similar situation replacing a thin porch roof, the down pipes that spoilt the simple lines that the posts and flat roof had, basically down pipes just looked just looked heavy and ugly. I fitted the gutters in level as these are short anyway and don't need a fall, but left off the spouting. Then by suspending a heavy* galvanized chain from the centre of the outlet down into large buckets set into the ground, which is filled with rocks or small lumps of concrete, the water will trickle down the chain. (that is a thicker gauge, not heavy* weight). You might also want to anchor the bottom of each chain onto a lump of concrete. You don't have to anchor the bottom, but you don't want anyone to be encouraged to swing on them. Obviously you won't see the buckets, but do need something to capture the water that runs down the chain. Small holes in the buckets allow water to run out gradually. The chains will hang down straight under there own weight, the look is more 'elegant'. If you get so much rain blowing off the chain that it blows onto the posts or house, it's very likely you won't be standing outside, unless you like getting soaked.