That looks like a nice place to live. Congratulations on your first home! Curb appeal is subjective but when I moved back to my home in 2005 I wanted to sustain pollinators (bees, butterflies, hummingbirds) since they're being decimated by chemicals. No, I'm not an activist; I just love seeing them in my garden pollinating my plants. What is your USDA Hardiness Zone? I'm in Z6a southern New England which was a huge help when I started planning my garden beds. Wish I could post before/after pictures but I'm cell-phone challenged. When I moved here I Googled my ZIP code so I knew I was in USDA Z6a. That defined what perennials would grow in my slightly acidic sandy loam. I also knew that my parents practiced organic gardening 40 years before I moved back home. I decided "curb appeal" and sustaining pollinators weren't mutually exclusive so I designed a number of full/part sun as well as full/part shade beds and planted perennials that would (a) add curb appeal; and (b) sustain pollinators. Here's what I planted: Full/part sun: Russian sage, wandflower, butterfly bush, beardtongue, lavender, Shasta daisy, false indigo, ladybells, balloon flower, perennial geranium, stoke's aster, daylily, coneflower, cushion spurge, blanket flower and other sun lovers. Full/part shade: hosta, brunnera/Siberian bugloss, columbine, Japanese sedge, black snakeroot, Lenten roses, coral bells, astilbe, toad lilies. Get a picture in your mind what you'd like others to see when they view your garden. No, I didn't do that; I knew what I wanted to see each day when I pulled in the driveway after work. It took a lot of effort but now I'm happy with what I see whenever I come home from the library. TIP 1: don't just spread mulch; spread recycled cardboard with mulch on top to suppress weeds. Worms LOVE cardboard. Happy worms = worm poop = free fertilizer. Tip 2: My folks planted beds up close to the road. I moved all my garden beds down close to the house (where the hose would reach). Tip 3: I asked my neighbor to pop the evergreen shrubs out in front of my house so I could plant other things. He came with his tractor and I never saw them again.

Holy cow! Those crapes have got to go. I see a nice looking urn near the front door. Why is it empty? Pull it away from the house a bit. And paint the urn any color you like, maybe to match whatever you plant in it. Red or coral geraniums for a great spot of color? I can't really see the sidewalk, but I get the impression it's too small. It looks a bit chintzy. Have it faced with flagstone or cobblestone and make sure it's at least 4 feet wide. You need a big, impressive sidewalk to go along with your big, impressive house. Could the front stoop go bigger, too? That's a nice-looking white roof/cover over the 3-pane bay window - could you have something similar installed over the front door to give protection from the elements?

"... what can I plant that can tolerate these conditions?" It looks like everything that's there presently is tolerating the conditions ... but that none of it is enhancing the appearance of the house. I suggest that more than what exact plants you install, creating proper beds and organizing the plants within them will make a difference. With a lot of shade, your yard is probably not a good candidate for turf lawn, unless you do something to radically change the light level reaching it. It would likely be shade tolerant groundcover and beds instead. It's going to be neither easier to maintain nor inviting to engulf both sides of the walk as it approaches the entrance with raised plantings. It would be better to use a standard foundation planting and flare this to whatever plantings might exist toward the side lot lines (which your picture shows little of.) And don't cover architectural features. (They are 55% covered now.)

I think this house needs darker elements. I would stain the foundation the darkest color in the brick. Then I’d do the trim, windows and garage door in a color like SW Mineral Gray. The front a mid-tone blue like SW Distance. I’d move the rhododendron and do a carpet juniper that is the yellow variety and then put your mums behind along the sidewalk. Possibly add a plinth to each of the lower windows.