You need to add something dark, for contrast and "punctuation".. I agree with the others about painting the front door black (not gray) and would also paint the planter boxes, step, and sides of the porch black. Perhaps as well the window trim and even the eaves trough although I would want to see the roof color better to decide on that. Then some brightly coloured plants in the planters and maybe a small brightly painted stool or chair or small table to the side of the door on the porch area. These things would make the font of the house "sing" and add personality so the home stands out from others around it.

Paving paint would be a cheaper option, Modwood is expensive but there is no maintenance, you could you use just ordinary timber decking for a timber look as well but it won't be as inexpensive as paint obviously. I think paint will look cheap. If it was me and I only had a choice between painting the tiles or leaving them as is, I'd leave them as is. I'd worry that it would scratch off the tiles especially on the ends. I used to have a garage painted in grey paving paint, it was very Matt looking, not shiny and the grey looked really grubby after a while. The tiles may not be your favourite part of the porch but make the decorating items the feature or save up and get them replaced with a grey tile you love. It's a small area so it shouldn't cost the earth. Do the removal yourself which would save you some money. It would really update the front of your house.

It's usual to mount it on an angled wooden block. When it's sanded and painted to match the house you won't even notice it.

This was my thinking about that pantry window (and there has been a lot of thinking, to my draughtie's despair!) : I guess it comes down to the fact that this is a renovation rather than a new-build, so it will always involve compromises. I chose to have the pantry on that front side rather than the back in order to get big stacking sliding doors across the whole back wall, which is north-facing - where the kitchen-dining area will open onto a deck. I have ensured that the renovation plan works with the current layout as much as possible, rather than forcing it to be something it isn't (I had a more complex design done initially, that was much more expensive, because it was trying to make the layout like you might see in a new build). Having said that, it also has to be functional and work for the lifestyle we have in this era. I think our floorplan achieves that - with the only minor point of contention now being that rather unobtrusive pantry window! I think for resale, and for the majority of people, if it came down to a choice between having a walk-in pantry with a window that isn't the same height/width as the others at the front of the house, or not having the WIP, the WIP would come out well ahead.