We just finished installing a new paver driveway and the contractor is also going to build a front courtyard area. I need to pick the materials for the walls, caps on walls, and front porch material.

I paid a landscape designer to do a drawing for me and discuss how to make the front entry prettier and more prominent. I ended up hiring a different installer, but I like the courtyard idea that the designer came up with.

We have completed the driveway and walkway that comes all the way up to the front porch. It's is a Belgard paver materials called fossil beige (it's actually an 80/20 mix of fossil beige and grey). It looks really pretty. Now we have to choose the wall materials. The original idea was to make the wall materials match or coordinate with the house so that they would tie into the house and not look like an after-thought. Inside the courtyard area will be one side that is landscaped and the other side will have large pavers/steppping stones, some plantings and a bench. The iron is plain in the picture, but I will choose something with an inverted arch or a little more decoration to it. There are no lights in the picture but the electrical will be stubbed there so I can add them later if I want to. The details of lights, railing, etc will be easy for me. What I am struggling with is the hard materials - the walls, caps and porch tiles.

Here is a picture from the original design. Our house is very much like the computer image shows - orangy-brown brick, limestone around the entry. The design shows a white wall (ivory-colored limestone to go with limestone on entry) and a brick cap with an iron railing (brick to go with house brick). I am wondering if we should reverse this scheme by using a darker material on the walls (such as a orangy-brown toned travertine, slate, or brick), and a lighter ivory-colored cap (such as travertine or limestone). For the porch, I'm not sure if I should coordinate with the wall or the cap (the brown or the ivory).

Note: we did not do the poured concrete edging that this image shows. It's pavers all over with a soldiered edge in the same pavers as in the main driveway.

Ideas?