You could consider some pretty pots on a bed of pea gravel...or build narrow planters...this will confine your plantings to a space that works for you...however..it may be worth it to spend more time on an overall plan ..that may include a prettier walkway...and plantings away from the house that will not infringe on your entry as they grow...

All the shrubbery need to go, and it's hard to tell without seeing the entire house, but it looks as if a small tree off the left corner of the house would look good. Not planted too close--maybe 10-15 feet out and connected to the foundation beds with low plants or groundcover.

The space between the house and right of walk is so tight that I'd consider having no plants there, but filling it in with additional paving (not shown.) Alternatively, the most you could have there while remaining practical, would be some small groundcover/perennial ... like lily of the valley if you know what that looks like. I would strongly consider widening the walk to the full width of the opening as it approaches the entrance, such that the entrance has a spacious landing. (I'm wishing the trim were white instead of dark brown. It would help the cave-like look of the entrance and make it look more inviting.)

The windows are low enough, you need only a shrub that can easily be maintained at a low height.

We can see only a small portion of the yard, but chances are you need a small tree off to the left in order to frame the house. The foundation bed could extend to include this tree, or the tree could have its own island and there be a grass path between. It depends on where the tree should actually be located, which is out of view for us.

What actual plants you'd use depends on what grows and is available where you live. A good exercise is to see what others in your area are using for plants similar in size to what you need.

Because of the overhang, you'll not want the bed plastered too tightly against the house or for it to be too shallow. Consider that it ought to be at least, or about, 6' deep in front of the house. The plants will come from the center of the bed, growing forward toward the street and back toward the house. Look at the poor existing plants, how they are crammed next to the house and must lean forward in order to have any chance at survival. You don't want that again.

We’re finally getting to do this work! Just making sure - is there a reason to save and replant any of the bushes by the walkway in another area or are they just dead and ugly?

If they look the same now as they did in your first photo, they are not dead at all!! Whether it makes sense to move them depends on what they are (can't see clearly enough to ID) as some shrubs transplant much better than others. It also depends on if you have room to site them elsewhere and can tolerate leaving them as-is to outgrow some bad pruning.

Usually, transplanting bushes of that size does not come out well when done by the inexperienced. And it's better to have the need and go looking for the shrubs, than to have the shrubs and go looking for a place to put them. Plants not well sited, instead of being attributes, end up being deficiencies for the property.

Ok I’m going to get rid of them then. Now for the fun part! making the front of my house beautiful! thank you for all your advice and help, can’t wait to show you the afters

following

Oh for heaven's sake!! If you can plant a shrub, you can transplant it. One just needs to be cognizant of whether or not that shrub takes well to transplanting (most do....a few are more fussy), the time of year you are doing it and that it is provided with the proper aftercare.

Here’s the after pictures, before planting anything just yet

Much better. Will you be widening the walk , or pressure washing it ?

Definitely pressure washing it when it’s a bit warmer out. not sure if I will widen it or just put paver type stones there with potted flowers

I wouldn't widen the walk..it'll look makeshift unless you tear out the old one and rebuild it..it's not worth it in my opinion..and anyway it feels much wider already right?..I'd plant low growing small perennials or groundcover in that narrow space and enjoy my comfortable walkway..

This is the time to carefully plan and not buy plants until your mind is made up.

I would put a low ground cover to the right of the path, not pavers.

I get how someone might not want the expense of widening or replacing a walk, but where the space seems cramped, it's the only way that it can be changed to "welcoming." Removing the hedge already widened the walk considerably, and while it's improved, it still doesn't give any sense of spaciousness. I'd consider removing the planting space adjacent to the garage, replacing it with walk, and having a beefy flower box underscore the window. The main bed needs to be deepened. There's not enough room for plants to grow into forms that look good. The downspout needs a splash block.

I like the idea of potted plant. At least until you're certain. Maybe blue rug juniper under the window.

Someone mentioned lily of the valley, one of my favorite flowers. I would plant them away from a structure or sidewalk. Tge roots are dense and will creep and sprout between cracks. Pure hell to remove. They traveled under my mother's poured concrete patio to day light and sprouted 20 + years later.

Take heed of the sketch above... the rounded edges of the walk & planting bed really soften up the stark squareness of the home & garage. :) Also, in my humble opinion, a variation in heights of the plants you choose for the planting bed would add more interest & softness. Best of luck with your new adventure!!

It is difficult to provide plant suggestions without knowing where you are, the growing zone and the orientation of your yard (Is it facing south, north etc)?

Looking at the first photo a couple things pop out

1. It appears that your sidewalk may be cross sloping (draining) towards the garage? In addition, your downspout is falling directly beside the garage foundation. If you do consider redoing your front path as Yardvaark has shown, I would consider addressing the drainage and extending it under the sidewalk, away from the foundation. This would also help prevent ice build up on that corner (based on the existing plants, you look like like you might be in a zone with some winter).

2. The current shrubs seem wonky because they are the wrong size for the space. When choosing plants, make sure you space them for their mature size not the nursery pot size. You can see that the front bed was planned too narrow to accommodate the mature size of the shrubs, requiring additional pruning to keep them in the plant bed space. I imagine mowing the lawn right beside these shrubs is also annoying due to inadequate bed size.

3. In general, your front plant bed is out of scale with the size of your house and yard. To feel in proportion consider extending the planting bed out significantly. A general rule of thumb is to look at a space and divide the space into thirds. If you look at the height of the house and bring the front bed out either 1/3 or 2/3 of that height, it will have a stronger relationship to the house, then you can look at plant massing, colour and texture for unity.

4. If you plan on keeping the front tap and hose their, make sure that you can still easily access it with the new plants (again think mature spread).

Last consideration for the moment, ensure that there are no utilities running under your lawn if you are going to dig it up.

Have fun!