Hi, A porch like you said would tie in the new garage so is a good start. It will also free up space inside to have a little area before you enter to house so another plus point. It's hard to give more input on that without knowing it's style, colours etc. Moving it to the front may improve the look by sorting out the uneven spacing of the current windows but what would it do to the layout inside? A part of this is the colour and the lack of varied heights visually. There's lots you can do to really make the house beautiful! :) I look forward to updates.

Yes both, I’m doing a two tone kitchen. Craig and Rose tintern stone for top cabinets and finally decided on Valspar timber green which is green but almost black for lower cabinets. The Craig and Rose is good and has great sticking power but i noticed with some of the test pots and I’ll warn you it’s smelly...not like oil based paint fumes but like cheesy socks smelly. Glad I decided not to use it on the walls. And the Wilko clear varnish is the best I’ve used so far, comes in matt, satin and gloss, all water based, thin but I highly recommend. Not used them myself but Little Greene paints are supposed to be very good and I think they do oil based eggshell which should be very durable for kitchen cabinets. Tad expensive tho which is why I went for the emulsion and varnish method.

Oak doors can be traditional and rustic or very modern in style, so go with the style of your cottage. If you have a cosy beamed cottage then go traditional. Of course pine, and other wood, is also suitable for a cottage, looks good and much cheaper too. Then the next dilemma is to leave them natural, or paint them?.....................😊 TRADITIONAL PAINTED TRADITIONAL MODERN VENEER

Good call OWLarcgitecture one of ours featured here is an award winning rental on Sykes Cottages rentals