I would bookend the porch with a large flowering shrub, and bookend the steps with a 3' evergreen shrub. I think it would be most important to reshape the bed as shown: grass borders the drive nearly to the steps; the bed is a little deeper front-to-back (in scale with the large house); and the curve at the front of the bed is a longer arch to blend more smoothly with the woods. (Hopefully, you'll arrange and set the rocks more artistically.) A partial plant list might be dwarf yaupon holly, panicle hydrangea (ignore that in the picture looks like "big leaf,) daylilies such as Stella, and groundcover ... whatever is low and works best there ... maybe blue rug juniper. A street, shade or flowering tree, or trees, at the foreground (out of view of this picture) would help if the front yard has a vacant, empty feel.

I suggest you not fill in front of the porch with garden but bring the lawn up to it, allowing small beds for seasonal color at the posts and a small bed near the garage. (Let the garage bed be at least 4' deep.) At the left side, it looks like you could bring a bed forward, connecting it with the lot line, and include a small tree in it. Groundcover could go below. The front of the house would look MUCH better if the grade were level and flush with the stoop. However, this causes an issue near the garage because it was not planned for this. The bed at the garage could be sunken and this portion concealed with planting. The turf would need a curb at the front of the bed in order to retain its edge (which would seem raised relative to the bed. It does not make sense to me -- for either appearance or function -- to have the "riser" of the stoop exposed.)

I would most likely start it at the jog in the drive and and run it in a single sweeping gentle curve a bit to the right of the tree, approximately where the drive would have been that you are not installing. Make it at least 5' wide so it looks important and visitors don't need to walk single file to the front door. Steps should come straight out from the door so that they aren't too long and put a generous landing where the steps meet the path. Yes to a hand rail, and make the posts (or at least the casing around them) somewhat generous in diameter, not skinny 3" diameter pipe. Plant shrubs along the foundation, but not near the walkway and not so tall that they will block sight lines to the porch from the drive. Perhaps plant some bright annuals either in the ground or in a low pot at the end of the path. Consider some down-lights on the tree to light the pathway well at night.

Your roof should overhang your porch floor. From personal experience, unless you are pouring a concrete/cement porch floor, you really do want treated deck boards (thicker 1x6 w/rounded edges) used for your porch floor. You will want the ends of each board against your house and the other end at the front edge of the porch. You do not want board flooring running parallel to and beginning against the house because rain will, inevitably, blow onto the porch. Leaving a tiny bit of space between the boards of the floor (and having the ground beneath the floor sloped away from the house) will enable water to drain off a level porch floor more quickly not only making the porch last longer but also decreasing the slip/fall hazard of a wet porch. .If you are using wood boards, pay attention to which way any board may be trying to cup as water that lands on a deck and/or blows onto a porch can end up standing in a board if it is lower in the middle than on each side. That also makes it more difficult to clean. Using 8' deck boards usually being more space for dollar cost effective (less labor than cutting a twelve foot board in half) is only one reason why a porch should have an 8' floor. The more important reason is that if you really want your family to be able to sit on the porch and enjoy doing so, you need room for people to be able to easily walk the full length of the porch with chairs on it and you don't want everyone sitting in a chair with its back against the wall awkwardly lined up like a shooting gallery. Some people will want to create conversation areas and that will require chairs be across from one another with room to walk between them --unless you intend for your porch rail to be a bench seat. If you've already definitely decided on a only 6' porch, one thing you might consider is creating a "gazebo" at the corner -- an octagon shaped conversation area where you can create a circle conversation area or even set a table with chairs for outdoor dining or table top games. https://www.google.com/search?q=images+gazebo+as+corner+of+wrap+around+front/side+porch&tbm=isch&source=hp&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjJx5yCj5rkAhVhkeAKHVr6CQcQsAR6BAgBEAE&biw=1344&bih=620#imgrc=bNrMN32ZP6Xj0M:&spf=1566601944817 https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2Fd7%2Fe1%2F89%2Fd7e189a1e49f02e5f6362f34d1a30889.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F129337820521972296%2F&docid=N5qHqDYvfwD4HM&tbnid=bNrMN32ZP6Xj0M%3A&vet=10ahUKEwiT0emDj5rkAhUpwVkKHelwCJwQMwhPKAkwCQ..i&w=516&h=387&bih=620&biw=1344&q=images%20gazebo%20as%20corner%20of%20wrap%20around%20front%2Fside%20porch&ved=0ahUKEwiT0emDj5rkAhUpwVkKHelwCJwQMwhPKAkwCQ&iact=mrc&uact=8#spf=1566601972684