If you're doing this to improve curb appeal of the house you're going to need to plant things that are in scale with the house size and keep it simple so that it's easily grasped by the viewer. With the blank wall and the entrance location, I think your best bet is a large, multi-trunk tree form shrub. (12-ish +/-feet ht.) The multiple spreading trunks create a strong artistic pattern against the blank wall. With a couple of low, flanking shrubs at the backdrop and some groundcover, that's probably enough.

Interesting suggestion. I'd never considered a tall, multi-stem shrub for that space but I can see how that might actually look really good. It could provide a bit more privacy when sitting on the porch, too. Thank you! The rectangular planting area along the side of the garage leading to the entry porch is roughly about 6' deep by 12' or 15' long.

Any recommendations for shrubs to consider that wouldn't grow too wide for the 6'(ish) depth of the space between the garage and walkway?

Consider creating a monarch station, maybe in a raised round or contoured bed made of the same kind of bricks that are on your house. There's an organization called monarchwatch.com. You might check it out.
Maybe you could line the driveway somehow, with a garden bed or hedge. I think your yard would benefit from more curved shapes.
Another thing you might do is to create a small grove of river birch. They are so pretty, and the colors of their bark would blend so attractively with your house. I've seen them in beds toward the front of the yards, along with natural-looking shrubs and flowers. Beautiful.
The main thing I would recommend for your yard is to minimize the grass. Not only do lawns use a lot of water, take a lot of work and expense, but a large lawn, in my opinion, is monotonous. And replacing lawn is much better for the environment and the other plantings attract birds, squirrels, and so on.

Oh, yardvaark, that's beautiful! I'm one who really needs help with visualizing sometimes so your mockup was tremendously helpful. Thank you so much.

Caranee - I love that you suggested a monarch station. You can't see it here, but we have a large backyard that includes a portion of a marshy wetland area. A very large area of the grass around it wouldn't grow well and was mushy from runoff to the pond so we installed an enormous rain garden and I've been planting perennials to attract and nourish monarchs, like a couple different kinds of milkweed among others. Once it's more established I hope to apply for the official monarch wayside designation. :)

I do also like the idea of planting river birch farther out in the front yard area. I planted one so far in the back yard but there are a couple other places on the property that could also benefit.

Isn't his work the greatest?