I'm looking for ideas, both for plants (want something tall in the back - monkshood? solomon seal? and of course must have hosta) but also for hardscape ideas to raise things up a bit.
The stoop (see below) is cement and in good shape. I could easily wrap a bed around that. There is a cement walkway of sorts to the street.

Anything goes! I prefer funky and stylin' over cute and homey, but cottage gardens are super. I'm not married to that hedge next to the house and am thinking of removing it, or at least giving it a good haircut.

I see a meter on the front. You're probably going to have to leave it accessible which is going to cut down on the possibilities a fair bit. Although if it can be read from the porch...

If you prefer funky over cottage, go for a very limited colour palette. A lot of black and white contrasts would be neat. Heuchera 'Obsidian' and Brunnera 'Jack Frost immediately spring to mind. And then a single pot or plant of bright red impatiens somewhere (or brilliant colour of your choice) would have enormous visual impact.

As for hardscaping, leave room to expand the walkwayif you can't redo it now. Raised beds seem an obvious choice for your wrap-around bed. I'd suggest using concrete blocks, painting them white and capping them with black tiles. If you check the Small Spaces forum, somebody had something similar with terra cotta tiles on top. It looked really good.

I can't quite make out in the picture whether the house is black and white or brown and white. If you go the tile route, you'd want to coordinate everything.

I've got a bathroom I had done all in black and white and then I hung bright red curtains. It just sizzles. Wonderful space.

Hope this helps a bit.

Janet's Garden