I think I'd treat the brick planter like a window box - just a REALLY big one. With it being 1.5' front-to-back, you could have room for some trailing annuals to drip over the front & then shorter flowering annuals behind those. The hosta I would move to the ground just below where they are now, they will fill in that corner between the house & porch nicely, or your could move one of the shrubs there for a nice anchor and use the hosta in front of the porch bed. The blueberry bush should be moved for a couple reasons: 1) Some varieties get to be 5' wide and 6' tall (or more). 2) You will probably want to have another bush for cross pollination 3) You'll have to cover them with netting if you want to get any blueberries - otherwise birds eat them all and leave purple presents behind. For the walkway bed, you have a great opportunity to highlight some really beautiful flowers. You can use things that look great up close like poppies (interesting foliage until they go dormant) or heuchera (really interesting foliage) or globe thistle (echinops). I'd keep them all pretty short, though, with the bulk of the foliage at 18" or so and just allowing flower spikes to climb higher. Along the edge of the walkway bed, consider something low and soft that would spill over onto your walkway. Could be Veronica, phlox, creeping sedum, whatever will enjoy the type of soil & amount of sun you have here. First, though, I'd start with a print out of this picture and see what shades of green & what flower colors you find pleasing against the brick. Let that be your guide for your plant choices (along with the zone, soil, sun, and water requirements, of course!).

I have no idea what the legal ramifications for dodging code are and of course you should be good and stuff. I would restore the railing. It's really cute. If you don't get a permit, there's no inspection, right? Well, I don't know that. Probably depends on where you live and what other things are going on in your restoration. If I had to have an inspection, I'd probably tack a railing between the posts at the proper height and remove it later. It would be naughty and dishonest and all that and of course one oughtn't defy safety codes etc etc. Ask your contractor if you think you'd get caught. :) It's not like anyone will get hurt if they fall off. I don't believe in skimping safety on pool fences, but this just isn't deadly. (I'm actually about to remove the railing for a much smaller porch that nobody ever sees when I redo my front yard but in my case nobody's going to notice.)

Hi, I don't really think that you need to go to the expense of moving and adding a column and railing. Try the least expensive road first. Some ideas: You could put a wicker loveseat to the right of your pantry window, but it would be sideways....not facing the road. Would the view be good for someone sitting there facing that direction? Then put a chair to the left of the window at an angle. You could probably seat three people this way. Put a low bench type table under the window. Like this one. This bench may not be the perfect size but you can get the idea of what I mean. You could put so many cute and colorful things on this with the extra shelf below. Now you have the large space between the door and the chair. I am thinking maybe shutters for your door and then maybe a good size palm to the right of the shuttered door. OR instead of the palm maybe put a barn star in that space instead of the palm. I hesitate to say barn star because they are much over used right now, but this way you could get the picture of what I am saying. I kind of like the palm because it puts something on the floor. OR you could find a large wood American flag(Ebay) and hang in that area (more color) . Also a round container of flowers on the floor on either side of the column. This way it will soften the column and not look so tall. It looks like you might have some gingerbread at the tops of your columns already. This is nice but thinking you could go bigger on that. Might be ok when the flower containers are there. Maybe somone could photo shop this for you. Hope this will give you some ideas. Putting a railing there will make the porch even more narrow and you won't be able to see the cute decorations from the road!!

The big issue would be "is the concrete done settling" The surface water and water from the roof needs to diverted away from the patio, if not then the problem gets worse. The deterioration is caused by trapped surface water which freezes and expands therefore breaking the brick. I saw just 1 crack in the photos and it looks like a settling crack. The pool and patio looks like it's been there for a good amount of time therefore I would think the compaction was done right and the settling would be done. The space where the plantings are next to the house would be a collection space for surface water to get in under he patio. I believe this is also the space you're planning to install a hard surface which is good. The concrete overlay is a good idea. I suggest looking at an installer with a lot of experience. I'm not familiar with the breathable stone. I will research it if you would share the company and stone name. My thinking is you need a non porous stone that would divert the water.