Looking at the shadows, I am wondering whether the wall with the plaques on it faces north. If so, can the height of this be reduced? If it is north facing, the room beyond the courtyard would be extremely dark in winter - miserable and cold. If this wall could be dropped so that it is 1.5 metres tall, possibly with a line of fastigiate deciduous trees on the far side to then provide DECIDUOUS height, winter would be lighter and the solid mass of the wall would be reduced. It really is a rather difficult spot. And the paved base of the courtyard only allows for pots unless you want to dig up the pavers and put in tree ferns etc. But then it looks as though the area would get the full blast of hot midday sun. I live in coastal SW Victoria where our climate is similar to yours. But we still get hot days during summer which can scorch plants that haven't acclimatised to this heat.

I agree with the other comments the entry would look much nicer without the artificial flowers and pots. I would add a console table with mirror above as they can be both beautiful and useful. The table could be a mix of iron and wood and the mirror framed in iron which would be in keeping with your Tuscan theme. On the table I would place a small bowl or box for keys (house and car) and a vase were you can display perfumed flowers like lilies which will naturally perfume your entry (the also last a good 2-3 weeks and aren't that expensive. If not possible to have fresh flowers all the time then a glass vase filled with lemons, limes or oranges or even some branches with leaves still on will suit your Tuscan style. A chandelier would be lovely and I would suggest a rustic carriage black iron style which would tie in with the border tiles on the floor. I don't think you need an area rug as the tiles already have a border. I love a black front door but I don't think the inside of the door needs to be black so I would leave it white. On the wall opposite the front door I would place a collection of four, six or eight (depending on frame size) pictures of Tuscany in black frames with white matt. It is a lovely entry and it should be inviting and give guests a place to check their appearance before they enter your home. Hope you find these suggestions helpful.

If you are looking for affordable art you could try Society6.com which have hundreds of artists of all genres to choose from. You can buy just a print or have it framed or stretched. Just search for your desired style and many options come up... I would consider buying as larger piece as you can afford and not hanging too high up the wall. If you have a larger budget I love Australian artist Lisa Madigan http://www.lisamadigan.com.au/category/catalog/lifestyle?__utmt_~1=1 happy decorating

I can see you have already had some great advice and if I offered my choice from the three it would be the middle one. But in truth, I personally wouldn’t have any of them as they just remind me of those ‘real fake’ pictures where a group Thai ‘artists’ each paint a part and pass it on, banging out 100 a day. I am pleased that some Thai family is in employment, just not sure about all the middlemen. For our wedding my wife and I asked all guest to donate whatever they felt they wanted toward a painting, we already had enough kettles. In the end we had enough to buy a painting each. I originally wanted to buy a picture that may go up in value and be something of an investment for my son. The gallery owner who helped us with our choice made this point, that when you choose something for an investment its worth remembering you should enjoy looking at the picture as well. We went with that advice first. I’m sure there must plenty of places where a genuine local artist would appreciate the purchase of their work in order to make a living. My plan when we finish our rebuild here in Christchurch is to fill our walls this way. But if you ended up with an abstract those links on doing one yourself looked interesting.