Question
We have an extremely steep driveway leading up to our garage and house. The front yard, to the right of the driveway has one retaining wall in the middle. And the front porch area has a seating area with a fountain, table with chairs and some shrubbery. We are going to put our home on the market soon and need an optical illusion to reduce the steepness of the driveway or take the focus away from the drive way. Any suggestions?

Answer
Here are a few "tricks" to consider:

Give them something else to look at.  Can you add a splash of bright shrubs or annuals at the entrance that is farthest from the offending driveway?

Sounds crazy, but painting the garage door a darker color will actually make the driveway look shorter.  In effect, bringing the door "closer" tot he viewer.

If you add an arbor or pergola OVER the driveway at the point where it diverts to the front entrance walk, this also has a "foreshortening" effect.  

You can also accomplish that by acid-staining the concrete with a muted earth tone like Sienna or Brown, so it抯 not just a big sea of gray concrete.

I don't know how much you may want to spend, but ripping up most of the driveway and leaving two strips of concrete for the car's tires (sometimes called a "Hollywood" driveway") can also mask the steepness of the slope of the garage approach.

Also, if money is no object, then replace these two strips of concrete with darker pavers, OR acid-stain the concrete a muted earth tone color.

Behr paints & stains have a nice selection of relatively inexpensive colors - and available at most Home Depots/Lowes.

Some thoughts.  Hope they help.  ~M