You have a nice house... but I might be biased since ours look similar..... I think your stone front might be exactly the same as what we first had! Some starting points might be painting the garage and shutters (like you already mentioned). Right now they have the look of white trim that over the years has yellowed, and I feel like it ages the whole house. Do you ever use the area under the pine (spruce) tree? If not, I would put a couple chairs out there as a sitting area first and see if you actually make use of them before committing to a patio. Your porch seating looks nice and that might be enough of a seating area already. Have you considered using the flagstone for a small entryway patio outside the front door? I feel like with the low wide ranch a low wide open patio might connect it to the landscape. Keep it close to the house and you shouldn't lose much play area. You could accent it with a couple pots and planters with annuals or random vegetables. I'd use the strawberries as a groundcover in a bed around the lampost. .... not to go on too much ;) but your hose access might be annoying if you put a bunch of plantings up by the house... you may want to keep this area somewhat open and skip the standard foundation plantings (which I suspect you ripped out when you moved in). It's almost July so keep an eye on big box store nursery areas, they typically start their clearances around now and it's a great time to get a couple blueberry bushes for cheap (they're a great front-yard edible) Sage, chives, parsely, rosemary (prob not hardy for you) are also attractive whether you use them or not. A couple zucchini wouldn't look much worse than a hosta and a few seeds in the ground now would still produce this summer...... just some edible ideas for a front garden

One thing about shrubs, particularly cedars, planted next to a house, is they hold moisture/snow up against the house, not good. If you're going with a cedar, plant it well away from the house and make sure you leave enough room for its eventual growth and still room to step behind it. There are many cultivars of cedar, some get huge and some stay small. Make sure you find one that won't eventually dwarf your house. No to landscape fabric. Yes to mulch to keep down weeds. You can also use something like Preen to keep weeds from sprouting in the beds. I use corn gluten, a more organic product that also works.

I would get it power washed to start and make any repairs necessary to the steps and aluminum siding. I think you can get away with keeping the brick as is if you put a pretty flowering bush between the two units, something that blocks the massive front wall. Ideally it will keep its leaves all year, or offer something pretty like white berries during the winter. Also, replace the front door of the right unit, and plant something in front of the mismatched brick. Definitely upgrade lighting and put in a stamped concrete walkway - will be less then pavers.

Here's an example of those garage door decals I was talking about. I honestly don't know if they would look too cheesy, maybe they make something a little more substantive, and maybe you can pop out the top panels and install real windows. Anyway, just a thought.https://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Panels-Garage-Decoration-Windows/dp/B07C813WKK/ref=asc_df_B07C813WKK/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=242033512944&hvpos=1o4&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15191994601553296919&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9017389&hvtargid=pla-527765302317&psc=1 Edited to add that it seems like some garage door installation companies offer that service, installing windows. You might be able to DIY but not sure how tricky it might be.