Here's my draft idea - would these plants work in Zone 7a? I'm not sure what most of them are.

The first example photo is all shade loving plants. None of them would be happy in that location with all day sun and reflected heat from the structure behind.

The second photo offers some better plant choices but it is grossly overplanted. It won't look that good in following seasons. (just an FYI but this is often the case with photos taken of landscaping for publication. Plants are planted far more densely than they should be to produce an instant full impact) You need to space things out appropriate to their expected mature size so the garden can look rather sparse initially.

The biggest point to remember is to select plants that will stay in scale. It's a small area so you need smaller, compact or dwarf plants as well. And don't pick too many different varieties - the space you have is nothing like the ones shown in the example photos and too many different plants will just result in an eye jumble.