AS above, more typically you would put the fence close to the line, let the neighbor's weeds grow up to the fence, as you would not be doing the weed-whacking maintenance, and then use a combination of a bit of a weed-free zone between the fence and your actual plantings, which you would control/patrol with weed barrier, mulch, Roundup. What kind of weeds? is important, because some will not so much crawl under and thrive, if area is shady beneath your plantings, whereas ivy, or vinca, will invade more the more hospitable you make the soil inside the fence. You may wish to create a small passageway for you between your fence and your flower bed, depending on how deep the bed is, so that you can work from both sides of hte planting bed and control weeds more easily. If you had a somewhat cooperative neighbor, one way to make a fence less work for him is to plant a clumping groundcover like liriope along the fenceline on "his" side, which provides a sort of cover for the bottom of the fence, will often hinder weed penetration and allow mowing right up under it (and you can actually mow it in late winter andhave it bounce back) , rather than having to hand-edge or weed-whack all along a fence.

Mina, for in front of the windows, I'd consider Osmanthus.....'Goshiki' or O. delavayi or x burkwoodii.....or Pieris 'White Cascade'. For something lower growing and with lots of sun, Hebe 'Caledonia' (has that purple coloration you favor) or Hebe anomola 'Purpurea Nana'. I might do clusters of heuchera for some of the edging plants - they do exceptionally well in our climate, are evergreen, and come in a wide range of colors to compliment any of the other plantings. One of my favorites is 'Green Spice', which has marbled green foliage with darker veining that turns an intense burgundy color in winter. Or any of the dark colored ones if you wish to add more purple foliage. Many of these are Great Plant Picks selections so should be available at any of our better retail nurseries.

I don't think you want to "decorate" the counter area, if that's what you mean. Art could be hung above it, but just embrace the opening as an eating/serving bar and keep the clutter off of it. Putting anything there is just going to draw your attention to it. And really, it's basically just fine with nothing. You could find some great placemats and pretty dishes and keep it set as if you're going to use it (then USE it!) because that's what it's intended for.

It was adjacent to a conservation area. Bears/deer/wild turkeys/alligators were very common We did have a screened lanai - that doesn’t stop a bear from coming through. Refrigerator bear attacks were common in our neighborhood. Most fridges were in garages and got hit when garage doors were left open.The bears opened the fridge - took out milk/yogurt/ice cream whatever. Drank/ate - folks found the empty containers. They did shut the door though! A few neighbors found bears sitting in their pools/spa. I wasn’t sorry to move to be honest. You definitely had to be careful walking at night.