I was thinking something similar to what WoodyOak wrote for the rails and porch support, a metal rail with clean lines, and a casing over the porch post to enlarge it and make it look intentional and ornamental rather than purely functional. As Woody's photo shows, the rail needs to go up the ramp and along the porch in both directions as well as between the post and the house, for safety if nothing else. As Kimipl mentioned, you will want to bring the front beds farther out in order to plant something that will be attractive - there just isn't room at this point. If you plant correctly sized shrubs with long-lasting flowers along with evergreens and then underplant with an evergreen groundcover and mulch well while you wait for the groundcover to fill in, there won't be a huge amount of maintenance. Bare soil encourages weeds and makes them more difficult to remove. An organic mulch such as shredded bark will help keep moisture and temperature more even and over time improve the soil. Installing shrubs that won't grow beyond the allotted space is another key to lower maintenance. Be sure to research their size somewhere more reliable than the plant tag, which often gives sizes at 5 years. A good book on shrubs or a website like the MO Botanical Garden Plant Finder will give you the real story and save you having to prune or replace overgrown shrubs. It will look a bit sparse when first planted, but you can add annuals or just enjoy it looking sparse. You may want to do the research before moving the bed so that you have the correct spacing for what you want to plant. A small tree, included in an outsweep of the bed at the corner, would add to the overall feel. And while you are moving the bed, I would get rid of the regular wiggles. Instead, either a straight line or a single long sweep of a curve would look better. I like the choice of the material used to create the beds. It reminds me of the layered sandstones common in the part of OH where I grew up. Between the walk and the garage I would plant some smaller height, mounding shrubs and an evergreen groundcover to tie it together. It's a fairly small bed, so use a limited number of kinds of plants, even just one type of shrub and one type of groundcover. Because the overhang is so large, you may need to add a system for watering such as a hose with emitters in order for moisture to adequate. This will be a quite shady bed, with the garage, house, and their overhangs eliminating most, if not all, of the direct sun, so take that into account in choosing plants. You want plants that will tolerate full shade and whatever pH your soil has as well as perhaps salt from winter deicing. On the outside of the walk, my choice would be to make the bed wider, but regardless, you want plants that are billowy enough to reach the top of the walk, but low enough that the walk doesn't feel enclosed or cramped. Typically I am not fond of plantings on the outside of a walkway, but with your ramp, I think it makes sense to have a planted bed as long as the plants won't make the walk feel like a tunnel or hide the clear sight-lines to the door. I notice that you have a pot between your bench and the front of the porch and one alongside the door. I would make those much larger to fit the scale of the porch. The one by the door, I would actually consider putting on a pedestal off the porch (perhaps in front of the pillar) since a larger pot will make the door crowded. Otherwise just don't use one by the door.

The only windows on the house that can have shutters are the 2 on the left side tha are narorow enogh for shutters, shutters are not meant to be on multi windows and IMO that house looks much better without them. Do the same trim on all the windows.At some time it would be good to remove the stone IMO never good to mix brick and stone and stone needs to be where it would have been for the actual structure not just put somewhere for who knows what.

You have a lovely home that I don't think will be enhanced by a patio. How about some adirondack chairs on the grass.

Let us be clear on something. Your “front” door is the double french door? I would find that confusing. I would probably replace it with a single door with sidelights and paint it a color that says “front door,” while minimizing the pantry door. I would also remove all the railing on the pergola. It isn’t necessary. And....rather than having guests enter from the end of the pergola, I would create a new sidewalk around the patio area, allowing planting beds along the way, and directing people to the end of the pergola where the true entrance is to your home.