Welcome to BYC!
There are as many ways of doing things as there are people who keep chickens - and then some. The key is going to be sorting through all of it to find the pieces that work best for you, your husband, your lives (how much time per day you have for chicken chores) and your plans for your birds.
I would suggest taking a look here :
https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coops - the "small" and "tractor" styles would both be options for a flock the size you are considering. However, you do say "starting out small" - are you thinking of growing your flock in the coming years? If so, to avoid having to invest in things twice, I would suggest planning/building for the flock you think you will end up with vs. the one you will start with - chicken math can take hold fairly quickly and that planned group of three can become 10 or more before you know what happened. Are you intending to purchase or build your coop/run? If you are going to purchase, one word of warning is that the pre-fab setups sold grossly overestimate the number of birds it is appropriate for - so cut the quoted number in half when deciding what size coop you need to purchase.
I would definitely suggest starting with at least three chicks. The fact of the matter is that things can/do go wrong and you can experience losses -- if you start with two and lose one you are left with a lone chick (not good) and may not be able to obtain a suitable replacement at that time. Having three is a little extra protection against this outcome. Additionally, because there is the risk of a mis-sexed chick if you have only two chicks and determine that one is male as they start to grow and develop you are, again, looking at having a lone bird when you make other arrangements for the roo (I know you said no rooster, but when that cute little guy has been the one you've been loving on for the last six weeks the resolve can weaken - even if you are allowed, legally, to keep a rooster in your locale, one roo and one hen in a small setup has the potential of one very stressed, overbred hen) - at least with three birds you are, again, stacking the deck in your favor that hopefully at least two prove to be properly sexed pullets.
Are you looking to keep them for eggs, for pets or for another reason? This will need to factor into breed suggestions. Do you have preferences on colors, whether or not they have feathered feet, etc? Do you want brown eggs, white eggs or blue/green eggs?
I prefer to bed with pine shavings. My coop is a large walk-in style coop, and I use a "Deep Litter Method" (DLM) meaning that I don't actually clean out the bedding but once or twice a year, it composts within the coop. I have a poop board under my roost that is lined with PDZ which keeps waste from making it to the floor level and keeps the overall coop much cleaner and makes removal of that waste easier.
I choose to feed a higher protein grower ration throughout the life of my birds vs. using a layer ration once the hens reach laying age - I simply offer oyster shell to replace the calcium that would be provided by the layer ration. This makes it much easier to feed a mixed flock (mine is mixed ages and stages so not all my birds are currently laying and therefor do not need the extra calcium they would be getting if I fed layer) and it provides a higher protein diet than most layer rations -- the grower is 20%, average layer ration is 16%. Anything other than the commercial feed should be considered "treats" and should make up no more than 10% of their overall daily intake - this is scratch, kitchen scraps, etc.
