Best if you add these photos to your original post.

The easiest way out would be to add on to the existing paving (as opposed to saw-cutting and removing it.) To patch in like this, I'd look for a paver with a color as close to the existing drive as possible. If you're going to redo the drive in order to fix the crack, that opens up design options. Then, I'd go for a darker/contrasting color on account of sun glare, where the paving is exposed, and on account of your house being light colored. I like old school, brick shaped pavers. Lots of good patterns good patterns come from them. The pavers I'd steer clear of are with high textures (like cobblestone or with radius corners) or busy, jumpy, high contrast colors & patterns. In general, I'm not a fan of the beige/brown/tan/cream color ranges (for pretty much anything) preferring instead colors in the grey/taupe or "red" ranges. (The tans & browns look dingy to me.) I notice your roof is in the tan range. Since roofs get re-done every so many years, if it is only a few years away I'd pick a paver color that ignores it, thinking that the mismatch will be fixed when the roof gets new shingles. (And no color in the meanwhile will be horrible.)

Plain concrete is an option for the paving, too. What you do depends on a lot of factors including how extensive your remodel is.

Whatever plants are near a house as part of the "foundation" planting depend much on the architectural features of the house, especially window locations. You'd need to supply a picture taken straight on to the wall. If the existing shrubs cover things that need to be seen, you'd need to somehow convey what is hidden.

That's the right camera position but you need to show the complete wall and space beyond its end.

Tthe bed along the house should be zero pavers high or the house will have increased rot. Plant at ground level. Choose plants that have the height you want. There are plenty of attractive shrubs that won’t be too large for your use and won’t grow into a green wall that requires pruning. Be sure to leave enough space between the house and the ultimate size of the plants so the plants never touch the building so that it can dry out. I would flare the path as in Yardvaark’s drawing upthread and also run it alongside the drive out to the public walkway or street. Then plant the entire front bed that remains. I don’t find the initial large bare space appealing. It can be planted with a spreading evergreen groundcover, or if you enjoy gardening, with flowering plants.

Try adding a second photo that shows what is to the left of this photo above. Gardens exist in context of their surroundings, and we can only see a portion of yours, so It is difficult to make useful suggestions or sketches. For instance, we don know if the house continues for 20’ to the left or if you have a lawn or whether there are other plantings or how far away the street is, etc.

Ah . . . With that as context, it makes far more sense! For that type of landscape you want to replicate it with similar plants and perhaps slight closer spacing in your entryway; consider using some low growing, flowering native SW plants to add a bit of seasonal color along with the more widely spaced structural plants. I do think that with the narrow driveway, if anyone parks there you won’t have a way to approach the house, so it will make it easier to see the door by having a walk alongside the drive with a curve sweeping toward the door near the house.

You have to take my picture with a grain of salt. Where I'm showing groundcover, you have the desert thing going on, which you could continue. But maybe there are low, spreading plants that would work for you in some way. The suggestion is a small (12') tree (It could be a palm cluster or something else; I don't know what grows there), a shrub below the windows, a patch of perennial of colorful shrub at the house corner and something colorful next to the door. If you don't have room there, then maybe in a planter. Along with widening the walk, widen the drive if it is necessary in order to make a good feeling way of getting from car to the door of house.

(BTW, when you take pictures to show an extended space, the pictures must be linked by having them all be taken from the same camera position. The camera cannot change locations.)

I would use pavers that are tightly spaced (no gaps) but as to whether they are large or small is up to you and is largely an aesthetic decision with some difference in ease of installation. Large pavers will be easier IME. Is the house color likely to change at any point? If it might change in the future, you don’t want the paving matched to it. I would use a similar hue/color to the driveway, though it can be a darker or lighter shade.

In ground plants are far less work, so I would recommend in ground Unless you want a good sized pot of something bright colored near the door to help pull the eye back there.