Do you have enough room for a railing? One with square spindles in white would look good. I would paint the trim around the gable white. I like the color of the gable. Remove what looks like landscaping block from the bed by the porch. Do simple perennials and annuals there. Add some more to the foundation to the right. Fill in the bare spots. You could continue with plantings on the outside of the walk.

I wouldn’t put railings. Looks really busy. I’d paint the porch and foundation the same color as the gable and add wooden square posts to replace the metal ones.

The first thing I would do is to enclose the deck and the stairs with railings. This is a matter of safety, not just appearance! It will also give your cute house a cozier, more complete look.

You might also think about a wider, curving, slightly more "meandering" walkway between house and driveway.

Cute house! Do you use the front porch? I would be tempted to grow clematis up your wrought iron porch supports and twine them with little light in winter.

Without railings, the drop from the porch isn’t safe or to code, and it will likely increase your homeowner’s insurance. So you really need railings from a safety standpoint. If you want the rail less visible, use narrow metal balusters painted a darker color, and if you want it more visible, use white wood with a clean, unfussy silhouette. I would use white posts and I like housaon‘s suggestion to paint the porch gable trim white. Be sure the posts are beefy enough to not look undersized.

Remove the masonry blocks stacked along the sidewalk. In replanting, you want a mix of evergreen and flowering plants. All evergreen and it can be unexciting during the growing season, but all deciduous and it is really boring from the first frost until things green up in spring. An evergreen flowering groundcover and at least a few evergreen shrubs should be part of the picture. If you want any suggestions of plants with a long season of interest, you need to give us your USDA zone which you can look up, as well as your nearest large city.

I don’t know what your budget is, but the front walk and the front steps look really cramped to me. If there is the money, I would replace the steps with ones that go from the inside edge of the far right pillar to a spot the same distance to the left of the front door. Continue your rail down the steps. I would add a generous landing at the base of the steps that is a bit wider and deeper, and I would move the sidewalk further from the house to allow the planting in front of the porch to be reasonably deep, at least 5’. The bed to the right of the porch can come out as far as the front porch or as far as the other bed. Make the new sidewalk a minimum of 4’ wide so two can walk abreast. Currently both the walk and steps require visitors to approach single file.

I am not a fan of plants planted on both sides of the walkway unless they are low, well-trimmed groundcovers. I don’t like plants brushing against me along a walk that is narrow, and I like to be able to see the walkway from the street. It is also less work to be able to use the walkway to separate the garden from the lawn.

Loving all the suggestions, thank you so much. I posted a picture to give a better view of the area below the porch. we had planned on removing the rock and planting stuff there. As far as the height of porch and no railings I have always thought it was a safety issue as well. When we purchased the house 2 years ago I inquired about this and the fact there was not a handrail for the steps. They said it was up to code.

The porch itself needs some work.. repainting maybe or resurfaced ?

Maybe the block and rock was added to bring up the ground level so it met code without a rail. (?). I would definitely remove the rock and block, but there isn’t much room to plant. Is it possible to redo the front walk farther out? If you are going to do work on the porch, steps, or walkway, do that before planting.

Location? What grows in New England may not grow in WY or OK or VA.

Where is 6b? Don't make people go on a wild goose chase. This isn't a garden forum.

What is the measurement of that bed?

Landscape Design is not a garden forum?? Coulda fooled me!!

If the porch floor is 30" or more above grade, railings are a code requirement - forget about aesthetics or feeling too enclosed. But it looks from the photos like you might just slide in under that. Regardless, it is still a bit of a safety hazard, so whatever you plant to surround the porch should come up at least to that level or even slightly higher. A psychological barrier if not a physical one :-)

I am in love with wide steps.

Great idea celerygirl.

I would do a railing in wrought iron in a simple design.

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You could keep your existing posts or replace them with wood.

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