I find that anything can be done DIY if one actually has the willpower....pebbles would be a one time thing...mulch starts to degrade after a couple years and you have to replace it. However...with pebbles you are limited to certain kinds of plants....I find that annuals do not do that well in that sort of situation.

Point taken. Going with pebbles would entail having no plants whatsoever.

Guess I should've asked this first. Is having any kind of bed surrounding the foundation better than not having it?
I'd say more than half of the houses I see have green lawn up against the side foundation. It actually looks nice but any other benefits in NOT having a mulch bed? Maybe mulches aren't good for the foundation or something?

mulch can attract termites and carpenter ants which could destroy your home if its made of wood.....then again a landscaped foundation softens the look of the home....you could try conifer bushes in this area...they do well in rocks, pebbles, etc.

The whole house is made of wood but the siding material is hardiplank, which I believe not wood. The foundation is made of concrete. Should I still be worried about mulches? The front bed is heavily mulched from the get go.
Funny you mention that though. Someone from a pest control company tried to sign me up for regular treatment surrounding the foundation (which will cost about $400 annually) and warned me about all the insects in mulches. Should I just get pebbles and surround the entire foundation? I do not dislike the look of the pebbles. I just don't see it much in this neighborhood and wonder why.

Why not some kind of low groundcover--many possibilities depending on sun/shade etc.--thymes, sedums, etc.

I asked a gardening company how to make a pebble strip and was told that there needed to be metal edging. But I hate the look of metal edging.

I found an awesome picture..oh those pebbles and the retaining wall and the plants.
In this picture, there's no metal edging. Am I correct to assume that the metal edging is optional? that it is just for avoiding the inconvenience of picking up spilt pebbles?

The link is for that particular picture which is a part of this posting. http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/conif/msg0523580015754.html

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:360285}}

@laceyvail
The bed will be mostly shaded. I'm not familiar with using any type of "grondcover". For now, this is just to make irrigation and mowing easier and not to sprinkle water toward the house. But I'll hopefully be able to do more advanced planting someday.

Ever seen that Allstate 'mayhem' commercial where he's the teenage son 'mowing the lawn', slinging pebbles through all the windows? Hilarious.

Mulch would be my choice. Horror stories about termites/carpenter ants are largely myths that die hard. Certainly, if you're a believer, you could go with pine bark mulch - nothing there to attract a self-respecting termite.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wood chip mulch - L. Chalker-Scott

I'd go with mulch too. I like gravel for paths and rock gardens, but as a general covering IMO gravel looks good for as long as mulch does and then becomes a dirty mess. All kinds of debris gets trapped in there and it's a pain to clean out.
Don't put wood mulch down too thickly, it could attract termites but another more common problem is artillery fungus dirtying up the side of your house. Probably your best bet would be a wood mulch and then a few groundcover starts that will fill in and make mulching obsolete!
Even if you do get termites in the mulch, as long as there are a couple inches of foundation between them and the wood they won't make the jump. Most problems happen when mulch is piled directly against siding and the little pests can go right from the mulch under the siding and into the wood of your house without ever having to evpose their little bodies to sunlight.