Those are beautiful trees. Right now its difficult to tell what the function of the space is, but if the space is simply a garden alongside the driveway, why not let it be just that - a wide garden space with a defined hard border (split face block, stone, brick, etc.) where the root-zone/edges currently are and some occasional low growing shade and acid loving plants just along the inside edges of that border that will help to 'corral' the leaves in the open space left between the plants and trees. You could still retain the stepping stone pathway alongside the house, just clean up the edges of that pathway, re-level and arrange the stones if needed to make the path itself more apparent. Sometimes just cleaning out random elements and zoning or 'defining the space' with edges makes a big difference. Avoid filling the garden border/burying the natural foot and trunk of the tree with soil much above the roots as it is unhealthy for most woodland trees. Combined with a blend of other natural wood mulch the fallen leaves could be gathered and/or left inside the border to decompose and return nutrition to the trees. They could always be 'blown out' if too many collect on top but if you live in an Eastern US climate, as I'm guessing by the photo, you probably get enough moisture during the year to help them decay fairly quickly. There isnt much that you can do to make it a safe zone for a patio/deck though. Those leaf spines can be nasty to sit on or in a tender foot, a good enough reason to just 'let them be' in their own space.

Where did you see it?

Hi, Since you havent mentioned what room this is going to be Im going to give you some suggestions on based on some assumptions.Id also suggest you try uploading a picture which shows a perspective view of the room (ie. it shows the front wall and the 2 walls on either side) just so that it becomes simpler to plan a layout for you In case this is a guest bedroom I suggest you go in for a sofa cum bed as that would make the space look less cluttered (as compared to a queen size double bed) and would even double up the purpose of your room.For example you could use it as a den when you dont have guests and dont need to convert the sofa into a bed.YOu could place a nice throw rug in front of the sofa and have some accent coffee tables on either side. the alcove you have can be used to create a ledge and that could be trated to suit your purpose - either like a study table or like a bar unit (keeping in mind that you might want to use this room like a den) I agree that you should paint the louvered doors white so that they blend in with the wall and not stand out as much. The wall near the door could hold a large mirror with a sleek ledge - i mean something like a nice console that would double up as a dresser for your guests. assuming that the wall shown in your 2nd pic is where the sofa cum bed goes then probably the wall shown in your 3rd pic could hold a nice piece of art. In case this is a kids room Id suggest you go in for a cute bunk bed.If this is a kids room for one child Id suggest you go in for a bunk bed again but you could have a study beneath the bed and use the alcove for a seating space with storage underneath and maybe also add in some small overhead storage units if the need be. the other suggestions hold good in this case too. here are some pics for your reference you could have a sofa cum bed like this one with some greens ono the side to add to the freshness.I also like the idea of that drape pulled to one side.the colours in this room are making it look nice and spacious too so i suggest you make ivory predominate your palette and add white by means of soft furnishings , the skirting , window frames and lampshades.Your blue could follow via cushions and other accessories like table pieces and wall art.I also like the sleek table. Incase you like this concept you could have an open library unit finished in white behind your sofa cum bed and a ledge that would run on the floor or just where your window ends and rise up again inside the alcove to form a table Incase you dont want the book shelves you could also hang a cluster of family pictures or art in white frames to add a feature to your wall some accent tables for near your sofa that could double up as night stands a bunk bed with a study inderneath options to treat the space inside the alcove this would blend well if you like the open library option behind your sofa cum bed you could create an accent wall like here if you keep the entire room ivory

You may get better help if you post this in the gardening forum.