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.

I lived in a house that had no closet at the front or back door. It was a huge pain (we live in Canada so it’s a must) to find a place to put the coats on our way in. If you have to walk by the TV to answer the door it will become an inconvenience. I get where he is coming from...the tv is smaller than he wants the couch to be so it makes sense from a placement perspective to put the couch or sectional against the long wall and window and tv on the short wall. However, the flow of traffic will always be in front of the tv and any movement up and down the stairs will distract from the show, game or movie. To make the tv a centre piece, I suggest that turning the room the way you suggested will meet his needs better. If you have a back door with closet that gets used by the family then hooks on the wall suggested in an earlier picture would be fine with a spot for shoes. A table behind the sectional or couch can be used for snack bowls. Certainly a sectional can maximize seating no matter what size it. And if you are hosting people and the tv is on, kitchen chairs behind the sectional will add seating and can be moved back to the kitchen after.

Oh wow, it's really hidden! lol Your furniture plan for the porch sounds lovely and I imaging having the door tucked away adds a nice sense of privacy and security. What about removing/relocating the bushes in front of the porch? Removing them might make the space look larger and more welcoming where as now they seem to make the space small and dark. Maybe swap them for some flowerbeds. It doesn't sound like you'd want to take on awindow-to-door conversion but it would look really great if you did. You've got a lot of space from an exterior view and having the steps lead up to the door would look very welcoming. You'd also have to consider what's on the other side of the wall and how that would affect the layout of your porch furniture, too (I'm sure you've already thought of that though). You've got a beautiful home, I'm sure whatever you decide it'll look great. Good luck! - Ariana

I like the idea of removing the left side steps. But I would put a railing there. I would also add a railing along the steps. Don't plant tall plants. They will hide the windows. The current ones need to be prune to reduce their size. I would make it an interesting garden. Maybe add a water feature or sculpture.