I'd remove the bushes in front of the window and replant the space. Visit your local nursery and get a plan that includes colors.

Very nice home. Presure wash sidewalk and driveway. Then some beautiful flowers in your gravel areas and balance the front with palms on the left side. Then enjoy! Best wishes!

Nice work from Doug! Think about removing the shutters. That window's way too big for them, and they don't suit the house style. It also looks like they might be coming off on their own...?

Another vote for no shutters on the big window, and put all your money into landscaping.

Agree about the landscaping. Biggest bang for the buck there.

I think what dates the house is the stiff foundation planting (it looks like yew on my screen, but is that possible in an area with palm trees??) and the lawn. I would transition away from both toward more naturalistic and looser swaths of planting. Grasses, succulents. With all due respect to Dig Doug's talent, I think his design is an improvement but still dated. Fine if that's what you are after, but look around your area at homes and public gardens for examples of what you find exciting and fresh in landscaping and post a picture for us so we better understand your taste and possibilities.

A different view:

The overused beige/tan color scheme is a highly visible sign of the "dated" look. A day will come when a new roof is needed and with it comes the opportunity to change it to a color within the grey/taupe families, of which there are a thousand variations based on differing shades and tints. I'd do that and also change the house body color into the same families. The white trim will continue to go with everything.

You are getting suggestions at the entrance area to bring planting forward flanking the walk. For an entrance that is already substantially set back from the garage face in a cave-like manner, in my opinion this seems opposite of what you should do. Instead, I'd expand the entrance paving such that it seems spacious and inviting. As well, brighten the entrance/doors with lighter colors such as trim white.

The pictures you've provided don't lend to giving you much advice on planting other than to say it needs to be redone.

The garage door is lacking detail and would be improved with a bank of windows across its top. Possibly add a vent detail at the pediment face.

If the garage door is hurricane rated ($1,200 minimum) adding windows is a $750 upgrade minimum here in Florida. Some small items are very $$$ in FLA.

"Boxy" shrubs are usually the result of planting too large a species for the allotted location and then being forced to trim it frequently in order to keep it confined to size. The average trimmer doesn't know anything but the box.

Some inexpensive changes:

Remove the shutters. They look a bit silly on a window that size.

Repaint the white lamppost and lamp black so it matches the new lamps on the garage as far as color.

Find gravel that as closely color matches the driveway as possible and completely cover the graveled area. The dark spots aren’t attractive and if that is landscaping fabric, it will breakdown anywhere sun hits it. If need be, remove gavel and fabric, dig it a bit deeper so there is room for a sufficient amount of gravel, and then replace.

Once the gravel is dealt with, where Yardvaark has the bright red in his sketch, add a pair of large planters (at least whiskey barrel sized) stuffed full with seasonal plantings. They will need regular watering per the particular plants’ needs and as they age will need periodic replacements. Or add a large, sculptural plant in each. Regardless, it is important the the plant(s) and pots are not undersized. Choose ones that suit your aesthetic and are eiher light enough to move into the garage for hurricanes or are heavy enough that they won’t become airborne.

Do research into cost and plant sizes of replacement materials before removing boxy shrubs and start budgeting for all the needed plants and materials. In addition to plants to replace the current plants, you will likely want compost to dig into the soil since likely nothing has been added for years, organic mulch such as shredded bark to reduce weeds (not pebbles or landscape fabric, neither of which belong in a bed with plants), and a deep edging to keep grass out of the new plantings.

Think about whether you are DIY enough to do the repainting of the house yourselves. It is best if you wait to replant until both the repainting and repaving are done to avoid damage to new plants.

Start saving for some of the suggestions given above:

Repainting. I like Beverly’s color suggestion or a sage green.

When repaving, modify the walkway following the plan in Yardvaark’s most recent sketch to decrease the clutter and maintenance of the two graveled areas.

Replanting