What a nice space for a garden. I like the rock wall. What kind of light does this area get? Dappled sun and shade all year like in the photo, or either more sun or more shade during the growing season? What is your soil like? I find it difficult to tell how large the area is, so a ballpark estimate would help to tell what there is space for. I'd start with removing any non-garden plants growing here and then mulch (cardboard with cut-outs for the hosta with an organic mulch like chopped leaves or wood chips on top) and weed a lot the first year so that when you add plants your weeding and maintenance will be minimal. Since this area will be visible as folks go in and out of the door, having plants with year-round interest and/or some ornament such as sculpture or a birdbath will be important in making this area appealing. I think I would try to plant mostly lower growing items in the front part of the garden, or at least airy plants so that the stone wall is a visible feature. If some of these are evergreen/gold/red, they will provide interest in the winter. In the upper part behind the stone wall, if there is room I'd add background plants with year round interest such as a colored foliage evergreen, and /or variegated red-twigged dogwood, ones that would stand out well against the light walls. With any woody plants, check the ultimate size and be sure you have room to paint or do maintenance behind it if it isn't a plant like the dogwoods which don't mind being cut to the ground. If there is enough light, a pretty trellis with a clematis that gets cut back in the winter (type 3 pruning) would feature the clematis in the growing season and the trellis in the winter. I would probably put a row of low-growing or easily pruned evergreens such as one of the smaller boxwood varieties under the window to provide winter interest and then plant the rest of the area with perennials to give you more interest in the growing season. Particularly in a smaller garden such as this that is in such a prominent place, thinking about varying the foliage color and texture (as you are doing in thinking about adding coral bells) will help add interest to the garden when there aren't many blooms. In addition to the library as a resource, Pennsylvania has public gardens that might give you inspiration, both for plants and for design. Here is a link that might be useful: Pennsylvania public gardens

I've been wondering about this very issue (that of proportion between mirror and light fixture), so I'm hoping you get good responses!

OK, everyone, I didn't mean to get y'all so excited about the prospect of seeing a chair recovered. LOL First, I apologize I don't have a photo tonight. DH came home and I was napping so he took the chair out of my van to put in his so he could take it to the house tomorrow. I'll have him take photo's of it once he gets it inside. I told him to put it in the office for now so it will be out of the way of the finishing work on the house. I'm not sure where it will live permanently because as you know I'm not in my new house yet. I hate to tell you, but it won't be covered yet as I'm still in the deciding stages of drapes, etc. for the house. newdawn, I don't have a lot of nice upholstered chairs like this one (will be). I just have some wooden rockers for the porch, an old one that has a beat up fabric seat that needs major reapir by DH before I can think of restoring any beauty to it and a side chair that needs a new seat cover and cushion. I'm waiting for the weather to get cooler before I start embarking on some of my refinishing projects because the heat is so oppresive here. I get weak after being outside more than 1/2 an hour. Here is a photo of 2 cypress rockers my sister gave me as a house warming gift. They are hand made by a gentleman in a small Louisiana town and they only cost $100 each. All they need is a clear coat to bring out the beauty of the wood. They are the most comfortable chairs I've ever sat in. I apologize for the blurry photo.

Mine are Wine and Roses and another compact burgundy colored compact variety. I would call them brown rather than burgundy, which I admit can be a sophisticated color in a garden. But the leaves are not glossy but dull matte and the shapes are very open snd random. Dull and shapeless.