I realize that you aren't liking this advice, but as others have said, widening the walkway would be your absolute best investment. Plants for that length of walkway would waste money you could use to really add to the look of the yard IMO. Use 8"-12" patio block with the longest dimension running perpendicular to the length of the walkway on both sides to give you an extra 16"-24" of width. Remove the soil to the depth of the blocks and save it for use elsewhere, tamp down the subsoil firmly, and inset the block to the depth of the walkway using sand to level as needed. There is patio block dyed to look the color of brick at considerably less cost. Since you don't have frost, you can most likely get away with this rather casual type of install, though a deeper base of sand or crushed gravel with fines included would be better. You can look up how to install block, but I have found that my patio block installed on gravely soil hasn't moved at all despite having frost. My block is 2' squares and 8" rectangles. Take the time to price out patio block for that length of walk vs. what you would have to spend for plants to fill that space and compare. Next I would make the bed in front of the house deeper front to back, so that it comes out as far as the base of the steps at a minimum. Right now it looks crowded and pinched. At some point you will want to replace the shrubs since they are tight against the house and look to need frequent pruning to keep them at that size, but as long as you are willing to prune, this doesn't need to be done right away. Plant your flowers at the front of this bed rather than along the walk. Replace the smaller pots on the knee wall by the front steps with taller pots set on the ground just outside the kneewall. That will give the look of a wider front entry. Your current pot placement tends to narrow the entry. Are the plants along the fence on right side of the yard yours or your neighbor's? If they are yours, there currently seem to be many different textures, but not in a particularly attractive way. I don't know Louisiana plants at all, but some vines that will stay relatively small and are all the same will give it more coherence and can climb the fence. Alternatively, fasten bamboo matting framed with stained wood to the fence to give a more polished look. Not sure what is on the other side of the house. Do you like the azalea that is in the yard? If so, look around for ones you find attractively shaped and read up some about pruning before tackling it. Cut individual branches with a sharp pruner rather than using hedge shears. I like azaleas, but that one seems overgrown. IME they take well to pruning if done well, and right after bloom is the best time to prune if you want bloom next season. If you don't like it, start researching plants to replace it, small trees or large shrubs that can be pruned to tree form. Don't remove it until you have funds and an idea in mind to replace it. Long term consider if a picket fence with a gate surrounded with a perennial garden would be something you might like across the front of the yard. It would add considerable maintenance, so if you don't want that, skip this.

The planting plan here is typical of many designers and I speculate that most, or at least many other designers, would not "have a problem" with it. It is me, the contrarian, that objects to some of its features. I suppose that many designers would object to my objections. In the end, it is you who has to make the call as to what is acceptable, or not. I've merely given you some ideas about what would bother me. I don't know what your arrangement with the designer was, but it seems that you are at the end of the design process with a finished plan. Wasn't there a concept plan or schemes presented before this that would have let you know the direction the plan was going, and where you could give input before it was finalized? Most designers don't like to get all the way to the end and then be asked to make a bunch of changes which should have been known about at an earlier stage. If this is the first iteration of a plan you've had to respond to, then it is what it is. I think the patio concept and shape is nice. The only issue I'd have is how close it is to the house, and that its closeness squeezes the planting bed (where you have hibiscus) seemingly tight. I don't have any way to measure it, but it looks tight. We can't see the back wall of your house, but if it's typical, I'd want the bed to be 6' depth. It will not be sufficient to tell the designer to "create a low maintenance landscape," as the answer you'll get back is that it already is. You'll need to specify that the centers of foundation shrubs are planted X distance from the foundation wall. (For me it would typically be 3 1/2' to 4'. But it depends on nearby hardscape features and the bed size. Sometimes those require planting standards to be adjusted. If bringing the shrub centerline farther from the foundation wall means that the shrubs will be too close to a walk, then the shrub centerline and bed centerline should match. Moving shrubs farther from the house will squeeze plants you have in front of them. You may need fewer of the front plants, or to do some rearranging. I'd want the redbud to be not closer than 7' from a line representing extensions of the planes of the side and front house walls. This would likely have the tree be diagonally placed off of the house corner, as I showed earlier. The bed would then conform around the new tree location. Be sure the "cherry laurels" used are shrubs, not trees. If you get the trees and shrubs placed far enough from the house, then I wouldn't worry much about the smaller plants, as they can be adjusted later as part of ongoing maintenance. When hiring a designer, it's best to hire one whose work you've seen and think highly of in all ways. Then you only need to be concerned that the basic concept is sympatico with your goals. You don't need to worry about the standards or little things, except as much as you have knowledge about and take interest in those things.

Put poured cement steps down to the dining patio on the left face of the existing front steps.

Does "formal" imply you have another space for tv watching? A family room? Or is this the only room for tv? If the former? Make the tv more secondary........use an adjacent wall. Better by far as the need for built in expense will be less, and same with media console and tv. As below...and I will hope that is the case. - you've another tv spot. Truly....... the view into the room is far better this way in EITHER case. A room needs to make CONVERSATION possible; nobody wants to shout at another off in the distance. And that love seat can just as easily be two VERY comfortable chairs. One quarter inch to a foot below. Don't forget a great rug.....9 x 12. Lighting matters.......art matters. : ) The very last thing you need? An accent wall via paint. One paint color will do it.....please. You will get more help if you post some inspo pics of rooms/styles you love. There are no mind readers here...