I've never understood why some people love their roses, but think of other thorny plants such as bougainvilla as a completely difficult plant. I find that bougies trained flat against a wall or fence don't require much actual pruning, but do avoid the purple form which is a much more rampant grower more akin to Wisteria or Kiwi vine growth rates. I'm not a fan of single brick bands across such a wide driveway, it is too little detail for the scale. Grasscrete as a driveway material or banding can also be planted out to no-mow ground covers such as Dymondia or Ophiopogon. I would still recommend eliminating that additional concrete around the lawn, and if not fencing to create a courtyard feel, at least some cobination of mounds, screen hedges or raised planters to repeat the long low horizontal lines of the house. The house elevation is just a bit bland, and could really benefit from updated landscape treatment in combination with new driveway treatment. I would understand if this doesn't appeal style wise because it departs from the neighborhood norm, but it would be the approach I'd propose. It just seems like this front space could be greatly improved by designing outside the box.

One other thing to consider . . . soil. Since you have an inground pool, it's likely that there's been quite a bit of soil disturbance. Top soil may have been stripped or buried, so you may need to do some soil amending to have a successful garden. You might want to find a good quality source of compost that you can use to start beds. When I do this I have access to a tractor and a huge pile of the neighbor's well-rotted manure, but I imagine that there are places you could get a truckload of compost near you. Google lasagna gardening, but in a nutshell, if you want to kill grass, lay down a layer of heavy cardboard or 10 or so layers of newspapers (NOT on a windy day!), wet down, cover with compost, and then cover that with mulch over the whole bed. Then you can plant as funds, time, and weather allow. I plop down a deep layer of manure, then a layer of newspaper to keep weed seeds in the dark, and then a layer of wood shavings for mulch. It's deep and heavy enough to keep the grass from coming up through and it's ready to be planted whenever I am ready to add plants. Having good soil is really key to having happy plants. Another suggestion is to plan generally, putting in your layouts plant specifications like 'gold foliaged conifer about 10 ft', or 'summer blooming purple clematis.' Then visit nurseries, either actual (plants will be bigger, important for shrubs) or virtual (plants smaller, but you may find more variety if there aren't any really good nurseries near you) and then fill in specific plants after you've researched what you found to be sure they will suit your needs.

Thank you for the responses. Patio design - should it be straight lines or curved? Steps - one continuous or two separate? We have suggestions for both and the companies that have come out go back and forth between them. Is there a rule to follow as far as design goes?

I'm partial to the Limestone for it's color range and that it stays cool even in the hot sun. In order to install Limestone as coping for a curvy pool, templates must be made up to reflect the shape. We use tempered hard board/masonite to make up the templates. Generally we shoot for lineal lengths of at least 30". The width, front to back, 14". It's time consuming and each tracing must be cut carefully with a jig saw and numbered to allow for proper location on the pool. The Limestone pieces chosen will be bigger than the template and there will be waste after cutting them. But you still pay for the entire piece, not what you used. Some very tight radius areas require a large piece. We trace the template onto the stone and cut with a demo saw or sometimes a circular saw with a diamond blade. We get as close as we can to the lines and then after setting the stones we use a belt sander and a circular sander to true the stone. The longer stones look nicer as there are less joints. Many joints, say on brick coping, is too busy to me. Using Limestone, or any stone for that matter this way is expensive as the labor to get the finish is intensive. Limestone itself is reasonably priced but you must buy large pieces to make up the curves. You pay for a large piece and only use part of it. Limestone must be set in a particular method. Here's an article I wrote on how to properly set Limestone. https://www.aquamagazine.com/builder/article/15122892/builder-blunders-failure-to-damp-proof-limestone Some stone suppliers offer a service to template and cut the stones for pools or any project. We do it ourselves as time is of the essence.