Too bad that knowing how to manipulate images with photoshop doesn't necessarily translate to having a good design sensibility, or an understanding of how designs should relate to the surroundings. A real problem with scale in these photo shopped images; what is shown being added isn't actually at the same scale as the photo. They are interesting little compositions, however, just not necessarily an answer to your dilemma. I'd think it would go a long ways towards making this front yard more of a garden if you simply added a unifying flowering ground cover between the Day lilies. I don't know where you are, or what your particular climate is, but I'd look into flowering things such as Campanula species, or Vinca minor 'Illumination', or Ajuga, or grassy foliaged things like Acorus gramineus'Ogon', Ophiopogon japonicus, Brunneras, Heucheras, etc. Plants with variegated or yellow/chartreuse foliage would contrast nicely with all the greens, and brighten it up in summer when completely shaded. Maybe add some spring blooming bulbs to the mix as well, something that might naturalize in your area. You might also check out your local nursery and get recommendations for your area for shade plants, and things that will have different seasons of bloom. Repeating whatever you use in drifts or large blocks may be visually more effective than "one of this" and "two of those". If you were in California, I'd have lots more suggestions, but I'm not used to designing around cold winters...

The house is small, but it has a lot of mass with the solid walled porch. I would consider "window boxes"the full length of it to break up the mass and add some depth. My opinion is that if you convert the entire space to planting, it will make the house look more connected to the street. I think framing it in and making a space out of it will do more than displacing the space with all plants. Lawn, contrary to a new anti-lawn agenda talking points, is not there for no reason at all. It holds space - usable space. It also creates foreground and contrast to give shape to your plantings. I'd rather see you distract background views of the neighboring houses and draw the eye into your space. I know that there is a big anti-lawn agenda that is driving a lot of environmentally conscious people into tearing up their lawns and making more messy plantings and erosion problems than beautiful landscapes and clean air and water. This is a very basic and very typical landscape. Little hedges and the trees with colorful underplantings frame in the space. Colorful basic planting at the porch helps form the space. Window boxes down play the stark wall of the porch. Traditional plantings, even lawns, have evolved because when they are done well, they do several positive things. Boring? Maybe more predictable, but not necessarily boring or exiting. Clean, pleasant, and more usable and versatile than filling a square bed containing a hodge-podge of plants. A small front lot full of plants with a driveway on either side is going to become periferal planting to the driveways more often than not. The eye will go to the driveways in those cases. Its a cute house (in a nice way) that should be celebrated and accented rather than mitigated. Certainly, there are people out there who can make great things in this space that will work on every level, but these typically become a mess when most people attempt them for the first time.

Here are a few ideas. (It is a clipped hedge below the pair of windows at right side.)

Would move the agave beneath the window to the right side of the window, hopefully maintaining some sense of symmetry. Then center whatever decorative feature you add in front of the window. Consider an inexpensive basic DIY bench the same width as the window -- one ttat could be used for sitting or could be used for setting potted plants atop it. https://www.google.com/search?q=basic+DIY+porch+bench&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwj2gu7O2aDpAhUDM1MKHQa1DbQQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=basic+DIY+porch+bench&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQDDoECAAQQzoCCAA6BggAEAcQHjoICAAQBxAFEB46CAgAEAgQBxAeULm5AliT3AJguuoCaABwAHgAgAFjiAHcBpIBAjEwmAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWc&sclient=img&ei=tnGzXvbPEIPmzAKG6ragCw&bih=648&biw=1358&client=firefox-b-1-d With the same wood as your bench, you could create an arbor over your window at fascia h eight and you could attach a few hanging baskets to it that could help shade your window, along with any plants you set atop the bench. Or you create a bench or swing within an arbor. For your yard, consider a plain concrete bird bath that could be seen from your bench or from within the house via the window. They can be painted. https://www.google.com/search?q=plain+concrete+bird+bath&client=firefox-b-1-d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjI_uy92KDpAhUmnOAKHfxHAcwQ_AUoAnoECA4QBA&biw=1358&bih=648#imgrc=dsz70E8M3SUeNM&imgdii=iZqdglX3zjCO3M