I rather like your facade. I would think twice about painting the brickwork, as this would be a maintenance headache, but cleaning it would brighten it up. Otherwise stucco and paint the front ( brickwork) only? i would clad your existing canopy in lead, but leep the existing shape. Is the tarmac yours? If you could change this to something lighter and softer, this would have a really big impact. Clad the stairs in slate or indian sandstone, get rid of the block screen and replace with glass, ( marine grade stainless steel fittings and door furniture) black iron railing for the steps.

Always intrigued by how different people have such strong and mixed views on choices like this! No 2 is my personal preference - looks more modern and "integral". I find the other 2 designs look like after-thought bolt-ons and make it look like an older house that's trying to be something it is not. The middle design doesn't feel that way to me. But it's only a personal view.... ;-) Caldicot Kichens

If you look at the 'black band', there are two air bricks in that area, typically they would be just above the oversite (the floor foundation) and a minimum of 6"(150mm) above the outside ground level. So the front garden most likely was higher and has subsequently been graded down to the drive, the garage floor is much lower than the house which is more or less at the same level as the house next door in the photo. As long as a planter feature stays at least two courses lower than the airbricks it would be fine, and would definitely improve the appearance of the windows being too high above the ground. My specs regarding air brick placement might be a little dated as I haven't built in the UK since the '90s and regs may have changed but the age of the house looks about right. The black band is probably what is left of a bituminous painted plinth that used to be common on many houses.

Sorry I was slow on the uptake. It makes sense now that it is the external door that will need to open outwards if the double doors are replaced with a single. Hence the double doors! I think I go along with the view to remove the external double doors and have an open porch. To avoid confusion the side door would somehow need to look less prominent. I fitted solid oak windows and doors in my last house because I didn’t want to use tropical woods. That was way back in 1994 when environmentalists such as I were considered cranks. The builders certainly thought so. They were more expensive but not by a huge amount. Certainly not considering their longevity. I left in 2017 and they were still in pristine condition and will no doubt still be in another twenty years so certainly worth the investment. I used Sikkins to protect them which was easily applied with a paint brush. In all that time I only had to reapply one coat to the external surfaces twice and once to the internal window sills.No sanding required just a wash down before applying. Not labour intensive by any means.