It's really not hard for me to conceive of "no rain and long days". living in one of the driest areas in the nation (#1 in the Summer!) and going 9-10 months without a drop of rain, makes me very familiar with this issue. When I mentioned supplemental watering, perhaps you've misunderstood. No where did we make mention of OP having a 'huge swath of lawn'. I hardly think planting a few (maybe 8-15) types of shade loving plants (see Dougs drawing) as well as some native types, and having some drip irrigation, is going to cost an arm and leg or drain the state reservoirs. the area receives 38" average rainfall a year. I realize the numbers could be down, but nowhere near what our numbers are here in so cal. We've been averaging 5-9" over the last few years. So, I mentioned the supplemental watering for those few months where you don't get any rainfall. It's not that much! All you people are acting like we're proposing he plants acres of lawn! stop w/the dramatics and understand having a few plants that need a little extra watering in the summer is completely reasonable! Let me just share this tidbit regarding water conservation. I had the district water supervisor to my house to talk about water issues w/my home. because I have koi ponds that need frequent water changes, I was concerned about going over my limit and paying a fortune. He told me I was well within normal usage (and I have lawns and plenty of flowers and plants!) Anyway, he said during the summer they end up dumping thousands and thousands of gallons of water out to the ocean because of bacteria buildup. he said people do such a good job of not using water, the water sits in the sun and accumulates harmful bacteria that they can't treat safely and then use for potable water. So every few days they have to dump it. they don't even get to use it for irrigation. it's dumped down to the ocean. great huh? he said if the public knew about it they'd have a fit. so here we are letting our lawns die (which looks like crap and makes the neighborhood look like a ghetto. Badge of honor? I don't think so) while they dump off the water. On top of that great news, the water company isn't making the same revenue, so now they increase the rates to the people who have so diligently cut back on their usage. So here's my take on that,,,,,conserve water, have all your landscaping die off, and get charged more money,,,,, only to have the saved water get thrown down to the ocean. Yeah, no. not happening. I'll water my lawn and my plants as I see fit. I won't be wasteful and i'll conserve where I can (I water w/my pond water that's getting changed out) and let the lawn stay a tad on the dry side w/o completely dying.

I think this house (already is really cute, and) would look great in a stark white/black combo or even off-black/black combo. I love shrubs but this one is big enough that the scale looks odd to me. You CAN rejuvenation prune it and see what happens. Or remove it go with the some spiky grasses, cast iron plants, a blue-green hosta, or if your climate allows, even snake plants. I think all of those would look great. I don't see colorful flowers in front of this one. And just for good measure, that house is so cute!

We use the front door as an entry, it has a couple planets on it, I rant to decorate it a little bit more with a little bistro set maybe! I am looking for more budget friendly fixes currently since we are hoping for an addition on the back at some point and my husband does not want to put too much into the front, so if i can think of a good fix that's affordable then it's manageable! He is also amazing at diy and reno projects and my brother is a contractor so that helps!

Thanks @Nelly Bluth definitely think that some dimension would help and thought about doing something above the entryway. I think cost might be the primary concern for that type of addition though, perhaps down the line could be something to add. Were you thinking of something just above the entryway or something that would extend further the the window on the left hand side? We do have to replace the windows regardless for life cycle updates so will likely do either way.