I like where you are headed with this. At first glance, my thought was a formal style since the area is very symmetrical. I love formal landscaping and all your inspiration pics, hedges, boxwoods and evergreens. I would start with a three tier-fountain dead center in the courtyard, as that will also be your view from the pool AND the focal point from the interior of your home as well. Start there, design around that. Put it on paper, taking into consideration the heights of plants, the views from various angles and whether it will hide or accentuate views from a seating area, inside your home, etc. I'd plant some tall arborvitae on the far side of the pool for an evergreen backdrop. Where the pool stairs come up to the courtyard, I'd plant a row or hedge of boxwood along this concrete platform with a minimum 36" entryway dead center, but no smaller than the width of those stairs in the pool. Lay a path of lannon fieldstone that goes up to and around the fountain, similar to your first inspiration pic. Or you could go with stone more formal than that, maybe a slate that coordinates with the grey color in the tile in your pool. Similar to your last inspiration pic. For main walkways, never go smaller than 36" for the width. A pergola at the back of the house would be stunning. Adorable house, and so much potential!

A very nice home. I could be comfy there for sure. Was the family room a later addition? Nice job in the kitchen, and I like your fabric for the chair. I have some thoughts, going to just throw them out there. More, perhaps than you want to do, but some ideas that might get you started. I would think about moving the dining room into the hearth room. Setting the table up in front of the bow window would make for a wonderful view while eating, and give you room to have all the dining chairs in the space. You could then put a pair of comfy chairs facing one another in the dining room with a small round table between them. A great place for someone to sit and chat while someone else is working in the kitchen, or a nice place to just have a cup of coffee and still enjoy the fireplace nearby. I would completely re-orient the family room. Move the desk to the niche where the tv is now. MOve the tv to the wall where the desk is now. Put your couch facing the tv in the new location, back to the windows. Orient the seating around the TV and fireplace, espeically because you are planning to dress up that area with stone. The chair can be facing the fireplace, back to the desk in the niche. If you don't use the chair by the fireplace in the hearth room once you move in the dining table, I would bring that into the family room as well, putting it on the left side of the fireplace. I don't know how soon you are planning on doing the stone in the fireplace area, but for now I would take down the shelf and art and just paint that inset wall an accent color, or do a faux stone finish. The shelf and art are nice, but back behind the stove look a bit like someone forgot to take them down when the fireplace was put in. Once you move everything into place, then you can place art. Personally, I don't think you need a rug in the family room. But it could be nice in the new little seating area where the dining table was. By the way, great job taking pictures. You provided a full view of the spaces so that it was easier to see what might work.

I just put in the Horus Art Cristalli tile in biscuit and I love it. I am awaiting the grout (which I will do in a matching color). I have honey/toffee maple cabinets in a Shaker style door, Crema Astoria granite (a creamy granite with white, black, and garnet areas, and with some subtle but not overpowering gray/silver movement). Even though I love clean lines, I chose this tile over the Tiffany (which is a straight subway) because it has a handmade appearance (the lines are kind of wavy, which go with the movement in the granite). It also has a little sparkle, which my granite does as well. I did not do a border or accent in my backsplash; I used only the HA Cristalli subways. I don't have a big kitchen - it's 10x10, only 15" from cabinet to counter. I chose to leave it plain as I want the focus on the granite and not the tile. I am so happy that I did! When I get a chance I will post some pictures.

Per usual, I'm offering a simple, basic planting layout/arrangement. It uses a couple of small trees to help provide a sense of "sheltering" and "nestling in," the minimum amount of shrubs so as not to smother or overwhelm, the standard color "cheer" at the steps and low groundcover to knit together the loose ends and provide a cushy platform for the house to rest on. Regardless of how the ground slopes or undulates, the shrubs would all be maintained to the exact same level, relative to the window heights. (They would be shaped like domes, not balls.) If there is anyway to do it, consider widening the walk as it approaches the steps, equal to their same width. The existing narrow walk makes the whole house look cheaper. (PS... the new pics were great!)