Beautiful view Jane, gosh you're on the side of a mountain no? Yes if left natural the cedar will weather to grey but to me that looks weathered & dry & possibly not in keeping with your house style. I still like the red door & think the cedar weatherboards look to be in good condition. I would start by painting the gutter & fascia in the graphite, then the pergola as well & lose the cinder if that is the light colour. Funny thing, I live in a pole home too but without your amazing views!

White equates to death in Chinese culture, but also to the Westerly direction which is also benefited by metals and pale greys. For a south east door as you have, stick to the colours you have suggested: green, light blue and turquoise are perfect. Perhaps you could do the same colour for both doors or a paler shade of the same colour for the back door. Definitely not white though! Also wood elements to include other than colour are tall rectangular like shapes in these areas. But generally lots of plants, flowers and wooden furniture will improve everything in this zone. Especially darker wood tones. Maybe pencil pines would be especially nice if you like them. Wooden wind chimes might be auspicious. Good luck, I think it looks really pretty!

That's great advice re the colours Design Organisation, I've been trying to work out how to choose the right greys to create the same effect as the one in your photo (still looking for a door like it!) Unfortunately budget doesn't extend to replacing the gutters which are that very 80s primrose. I've spoken to builder re your suggestion about the width of the poles and we might now replace them with timber posts, you've been really helpful!

Thank you for your great ideas and photos. I love the concept and have been thinking about this idea also even a basic series of large timber frames to line the path. I really do need the shelter though so I pretty much want exactly what you suggest. A raised, almost floating verandah roof starting from the inside cutout of the roofline (to get height) and angled down to match the garage/stone wall but yes 600mm or so gap and say timber lined with nice chunky timber post or even stone based posts. My worry was would this look out of place in what is a simple country home and the best way to finish it off and "ground" the structure so it looks like it belongs to the original building. It is doable I'm sure but I don't want it to look odd either. The devil is in the detail so they so. Thanks again for your thoughts and ideas.