My first thought on reading your question was that you'd precluded the one thing I immediately thought of, which was to remove the camellia near the door. It unfortunately does not appear to be the dying plant you have your eye on. So I had to think about this one a bit. This forum is a little different from Home Dec, and some of the differences cause us to move a little slower! Obviously the front of your house had the same effect on me as on Rhodium. I've included a link to a question recently posted here with similar problems although the house style is very different. You may be able to appreciate the effect of a blocking plant and a dark door if you see something similar on someone else's house. You may still decide not to change it, of course! The palm by the driveway gives a little character in what seems to be a cookie cutter neighbourhood, so more power to you for keeping it. Given that you don't have much time, the prime part of the look you're after - manicured - may be best achievable just by pruning those boxwoods. But for the colour objective, you either have the wrong plants in, or not enough plants. To add plants you pretty much have to add beds, which means adding work. You see again how your parameters have somewhat precluded helping you get what you want :-) So I'm going to go around your parameters to make suggestions, and let you sort out which ones you do want to flex on if any. I would take out the camellia and put your decorative pot under your house number, not in the doorway. I would also paint the front door a brighter colour. Then I'd use the area next to the front door for your colour bed; it's small, but I think you'd enjoy it coming and going. Prune the boxwoods as well as the bushes to the left which are getting a bit shapeless, and maybe replace those grassy things in front of them with annuals or perennials that you like. Light coloured hostas would work in my zone and provide longer term interest than plants that have only flower interest. If you really want more planting beds, I would add them out further in the yard, something like an island bed out toward the left corner. KarinL Here is a link that might be useful: wanting a welcoming entry

Your home and lot already have significant curb appeal. Do like the flowering tree in the foreground as well as the post fence on the right side of the home. Healthy looking lawn is a huge plus. Definitely remove//move the bushes directly in front of the front door -- trimming rather than removing the rest might be best as long as you create a solid hedge rather than one with a gap in front of the porch railing. Read up on trimming the kind of shrubs you have. The ones you have may need to be trimmed at an angle to get them to grow thicker rather than have the trunks show. Painting the front door a bolder color to make it the focal point of the front of your home is well worth considering. Budget permitting, adding a forward facing gable above the front door is worth considering -- especially if it extends about 3' beyond the front of the front wall of the garage and becomes a covered entry enhancing the front door as the focal point of the front of your home. https://i.pinimg.com/736x/ae/5c/d1/ae5cd1da363f11d9561e11e5e7682bfe--ranch-style-homes-exterior-exterior-homes.jpg Like the shape of the garage doors and the windows in them. Painting the garage doors the same color as the home would make them less of a focal point. Outlining the driveway in brick or paving stones might be worth considering, especially if on the front door side of the driveway you created a sidewalk that stops about a car length from the door using the same brick or paving stone -- stops so you're stepping onto the sidewalk rather than the grass as you get out of your vehicle. A sidewalk need not be straight: by creating a curve/circle for your sidewalk, you could also be creating an outline for a flower bed and one part of the curve might curve toward the driveway while another curves toward a front yard patio: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/ae/5c/d1/ae5cd1da363f11d9561e11e5e7682bfe--ranch-style-homes-exterior-exterior-homes.jpg https://static.houselogic.com/content/images/front-yard-patio-ideas-visual-sameness_086e0058d8297bf2ae78c70aebe1197f.jpg

Have you talked to professional masonry person re: fixing the discrepancy in color of brick? Its the combination of the natural raw brick texture with that wonderful burnt wood that looks so fantastic - the two materials belong together. Brick painted with acrylic even if a similar color, is not going to have that same synergistic effect with the wood. Painted brick will look flat and and dull since it wont have the slight color variations of real brick. The texture will be that of brick encased in plastic instead of rough natural texture of brick. And btw, latex or acrylic paint - any paint that forms a film on the surface and doesn't allow water vapor to freely pass through is a mistake cos moisture gets trapped behind the film and long term damages the brick. If you have to paint then choose mineral paint. Since its made with real mineral pigments instead of chemical colorants Ive been told the color has more richness and depth and you can get it in different "weights" - some are thinner so that more of the texture or roughness would show through. Romabio and Limeworks USA both have fantastic customer service - can do custom color if you send them a brick or a good picture.

I love your house. I imagine it is quite old since it built so close to the road. I like the shutters on either side of the door, but would get larger lanterns. I would remove all the foundation plantings along that front side of the house so you can have a nice wide walkway. Then I would add steps to the right side of the entry so you can walk straight to the mailbox. Instead of the iron railing I would do a Chippendale wood one. This company fabricates them. Here is a modified one with square spindles. I can see your house with color. These are from Benjamin Moore's Colonial Williamsburg Collection"