Sure it's a project for a novice...you will just need to read and read and read and ask people for advice.

Since you want to start with a small area..you can smother it for a year or so with 6 to 8" of mulch or black landscaping material. It will kill all the weeds and some of the weed seed in the top layer of the soil.

Since I have a small area, with very compacted soil, this is what I did. I killed everything with Round-up. When the existing plants were nice and brown, I rototilled to break up the compaction. Then I watered once a week. I waited until the new crop of weeds were about 8 inches high, then I used Round up again, waited til everything had died, then started watering again. This brought up more weeds and I did the same thing. Round up. In November, on Thanksgiving weekend, I planted the seeds I had bought from Prairie Moon Nursery. This spring I am still seeing lots of weeds, but I'm also seeing lots of natives. I will probably have a burn next spring.

The idea behind all this carnage is to somewhat exhaust the weed seed bank. You will never get all of it...but since you are going to try a small area first...it's more pro-active than the black tarp of death, LOL! April

My experience with growing native plants is that they are not exactly low maintenance. True, they are well adapted to our local environment, otherwise, they would not be natives. So they don't require extra water or special fertilizer. But there always seem to be invasives to deal with. My suggestion would be for you to seek out people growing native prairies in your area, find out what plants they are growing, and ask how much time they spend per year on weeding and other maintenance.

My standard advice for novice or potential native landscapers is to check out Wild Ones Native Landscapers. I'm not sure if this great organization is active in your area (it's gradually spreading out of the upper Midwest), but their website and newsletter are great sources of information and inspiration.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wild Ones

ditto to what john mo says - wild ones is a great source.
ditto to what ahuges says - read, read, read, and ask others

another good source is your local NRCS office - look for a native plant society in your area as well.

you are already on the right track by starting small. a small area acts as a test plot for what works for you. every one who starts this is a novice and then builds from there...

consider smothering to start beds in lieu of weed killers- thats just my personal opinion... and about maintenance - by converting to a natural landscape you will no longer have to mow weekly or water or fertilize - but you will have to weed - some people weed everyday - others weed monthly - yet others dont weed at all - how much weeding you do will depend upon how manicured of a look you want and your weed tolerance level...anyone familiar with traditional gardening will have a grasp of a weed tolerance level.

reccommended reading: "Noahs Garden" by Sara Stein

You definitely won't be a novice anymore after many years of this! You will develop a hunger for more knowledge as you get into this.

Plant natives to your area being careful not to plant anything invasive. Tennessee is the border for two distinct regions... the Northeast and the Southeast. You will likely find that both apply to you.

Here are some natives to try:
Aquilegia canadensis (Wild Columbine)
Aster novae-angliae (New England Aster)
Monarda didyma (Bee Balm)
Rudbeckia hirta (Black-eyed Susan)
Viola (Violets)
Chelone glabra (Turtlehead)
Heuchera sangunea (Coralbells)
Lilium superbum (Turk's cap lily)
Coreopsis lanceolata (Tickseed)
Eupatorium purpureum (Joe-pye weed)
Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal Flower)
Phlox carolina (Thick-leaved Phlox) *zone 7
Aristolochia durior (Dutchman's pipe) *climber
Passiflora incarnata (Passion flower) *climber

Also try some introduced plants like
Arabis caucasica (Rock cress)
Astilbe (False spiraea)
Phlox paniculata (Summer phlox, garden phlox)
Sedum spectabile (Showy stonecrop)
Hemerocallis (Daylilies)

If your area is larger than you thought it was add a few shrubs or a small tree to cut down on potential area to weed.

Books to try include:
Gardening with Native Plants of the South, Wasowski, 1994
Meadows and Meadow Gardening, New England Wild Flower Society, 1990
The Wildflower Meadow Book: A Gardener's Guide, Martin, 1990
Taylor's Guide to Gardening in the South, 1992
Landscape Plants of the Southeast, Halfacre and Shawcroft, 1989

These nurseries may be a source:
Native Gardens 5737 Fisher Lane Greenback, TN (seeds and plants)
Sunlight Gardens 174 Golden Lane Andersonville, TN (plants)

If you want to have native plants, there's no sense in having introduced ones at all. April