Are you open to doing hardscaping? I think the house is cute with a lot of potential for appeal. I would think about your entrance and expanding the landing, maybe making a patio, and creating a welcoming, curved pathway to the door.

I am open to anything but parts of the ideas may be a longer term goal depending on budget. Thanks in advance.

For the left half of your house the beds are confined due to the path. I nice goal would be to one day replace that path with one set out into the lawn more.

What are the shrubs in the first narrow bed? It looks like once they are leafed out the will be encroaching on the human walking area.

The other side of the house could have a typical five foot depth bed the whole way down.

I can't suggest plants for you as I am from California. I do suggest that you have something very simple in that area near the door.

I don't think your front yard is ugly. The grass needs some TLC, so I would focus on that and live with it for a while to see how you use that space or how you would like to use that space, and also think about what you would like to maintain and what you would like to see (or not see!). I'd wait until fall to landscape and spend the spring and summer researching, shopping around, perusing landscaping magazines or blogs or pinterest, keep a "wish list" folder, etc.

Thanks all. We do plan on addressing the grass, I can't abide our first there summer as being 'that house' on the street. The left side has azaleas that I wanted to keep because they are not in the way and didn't look ghastly imo. Closer to the front door (which we don't use) is a rhody that I has to severely cut back as it was a monster that took everything over and azaleas that were again monstrous and have to go. On the right is rinse and repeat plus tons of what I think are shasta daisies, lily of the valley, hydangeas and daffs...none of these were tended and just went wherever. I pride myself in at least making a good first impression so I have to take action soon.

I might have some suggestions if you could provide better pictures. Stand in line with front door about 20 + feet away (I see a chunk of concrete or stump next to a shrub that looks to be about the right place to stand.) Pan the entire front of house, from lot line to lot line, taking slightly overlapping pictures and post them all, not a computer generated panorama.

You're a long way from being "that house." Once you get the lawn greened up I think you will feel a lot better about your front yardscape. Right now you've got a bunch of overgrown shrubs under your windows that are too big for your limited space and really aren't needed to cover up anything. That's a small space, as Emmarene has noted, so you'll probably want to either put nothing there, or something smaller. Almost too small for even dwarf shrubs, but if you want, a fine space for some easy care perennials or a groundcover. Same with the shrub against the chimney, it is going to be a pain to maintain, and why do you need to cover your chimney with foliage? It's too big for that space, but could maybe work away from the house, viewed from an inside window. Your front landscape suffers from the classic mistake of thinking that everything has to be shoved up against the house. In my humble opinion, a front yard landscape should be designed to look nice from the road to folks driving by, from the driveway as you come home, and from INSIDE the house as you look out. That usually involves plantings well away from the house, judiciously placed so as not to obscure some area of the house where a burglar might be trying to enter. "Foundation plantings" are ok since that is an area to grow things if you like, but if there is nothing ugly around your foundation to hide, not necessary unless that really rings your bell. If you do want them, then think of them like jewelry and other accessories that you would "wear" to highlight your outfit. In the same sense, foundation plantings balance and soften the features of your house, highlighting what you like and downplaying the negatives. Depending on your light orientation, foundation plantings can also provide shade to cool your house or a windblock. But when planted too close, they just end up holding debris and moisture against the house and roof which can lead to moss, mold, rot, insects, etc.

The area to the right of the front door as I'm looking at it, is kind of a long boring expanse of grey, so that would be where you could have some kind of plantings to spruce it up. Then in the front by the road, where it looks like something has died and been cut down, is where you could plant what is known as a "specimen tree" which is a tree that is spectacular in some way and gives pleasure when viewed from within the house or from the road. Common examples are white birches or river birches for their form and bark, a crimson maple or some other shrub or tree with bright red leaves in the fall, a crabapple or flowering cherry or dogwood, etc, some kind of flowering tree, or some cool evergreen or an island with a series of maybe three flowering shrubs or shrubs with cool foliage. You could relocate the large shrubs by your house to that spot, if they survive the move. I wouldn't recommend the classic blue spruce for your small yard, but there are some other beautiful options out there. But that's my taste, you have to figure out what is yours. You already have a magnolia specimen tree so purely up to you if you want another to contrast with it, or just let that area return to grass.

Thanks for advice and ideas, pink!! I am definitely getting rid of a ton of stuff that was allowed to get too big for the house by previous owners and tend to lawn. Yard, I hope these pics help.

If at all possible, the walk should be widened, especially at the area of the landing for the stoop.

Colors are symbolic and not to be taken literally.

Because shrubs (or other plants) are drawn looking alike does not mean that in real life they would necessarily be alike. Besides needing to fit the space, the plant must fit the conditions (light, moisture, architecture, etc.)

Wow, thanks Yard!! This is FABULOUS! I will definitely implement just about all of this...very doable.

Glad it inspires. Now make it prettier with real plants.