No pics, but the wife has garden beds all over the place. They are great because they can really define your space. The best investment is a lawn edger. makes it easier to keep grass out of the beds.
Building your bed is the first step.. Mark it.. strip the sod, add topsoil or manure etc, depending on your soil make up. You want soil that will keep its shape when moist if you squeeze it in your hand.. but will crumble quite easily. Mound the soil, since raised beds have better drainage, and also give you a quicker start in the spring.
Start with something like this (no idea what sort of scale you are working with but here's the general idea
A great start are Shrubs. Pyramidal cedars and boxwood are nice because they add structure, and are also low maintenance Next you will want some perennials, so they come back every year. Just take note of how big everything gets once it matures. Keep a bit of room open for some annuals since it allows you to change the colors up from year to year. If you don't want to plant everything really close together, mulch is your friend. It saves you from having to weed your garden all the time and keeps it all tidy. It's pretty easy all in all, and a good work out.
Oh.. and buy good tools (spade, shovel, fork, edger etc) and take care of them and they will last you a lifetime.
Some favorites in our gardens are:
Peonies (quite dramatic, but short lived huge blossoms)
Allium
Also.. you could always just buy some huge flower pots and make container gardens.
