Sorry forgot to attach photo,here it is:)

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

Not yet. We actually have JUST engaged an architect to draw up an older school house we are hoping to purchase and use as an addition onto the left hand side of the house. Obviously if that purchase goes through, we will hire the architect to work on both the connection of the new building to the house as well as the front entryway. Here is the floor plan of the house. The small bedroom (bedroom 4) sits directly behind the lounge. We are also thinking about removing part of the wall there so that you would walk into the home and see directly into the lounge or turn slightly right and enter the kitchen.

Hi there We recently built a house and for various reasons, we had to have the front door on the side of the property, rather than at the front. Now that it's built, we have ended up with a lot less space on the side for planting than expected and it's just a driveway. The door that's at the front is actually the laundry and so we have fenced it off (we also have a small dog who needs lawn). We have planted a couple of climbers to go up the trellis to cover the laundry door, and have planted a specimen tree (Michaelia Gracipes) which will have lovely flowers, plus the hedging at the front and we had planned to put reeds in containers up the driveway against the house, but I'm at a loss what to do with; a) the front garden as it just looks too empty and b) how to improve the street appeal and encourage visitors to come up the side, to the front door. The front house owns the drive, so we can do anything we like, but must allow vehicle access to the rear. Any suggestions (except renovating the house!) are welcome. TIA