I would make smaller garden area. here is an inspro

Front Yard Facelift · More Info

Front Yard Facelift · More Info

Consider removing the hose and square off that area to have a paved landing for the porch.

You could move a lot of your garden to alongside the driveway, outlining the driveway.

You could create a angle shaped for your entry and/or a porch in front of it :

https://in.pinterest.com/pin/28288303897140863/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/62487513554087150/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/696087686126750651/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/754915956258929373/

If you moved your garden forward about eight feet and kept it left of the sidewalk, creating a planting area between sidewalk and, as needed, beyond where sidewalk meets driveway, you could create a porch between the house and garden with a barely sloped shed roofed porch from the left wing of the house over to the carport (and even over the entry to the carport giving you more room to make up for the appliances at the back) .

In your own wheelbarrow, you could mix concrete for the porch floor yourself.

You could create a paver / patio style floor ... no concrete needed.

There are You Tube vids on how to install your treated posts for your roof support so they're not standing in water and less likely to rot.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/447404544203656934/

How about a round patio in a Belgium block? You could continue the plants of the rocks garden around it. Put the hose in a container. Remove the shutters. The windows are not right for them.

Do you want a sit-down porch with a couple chairs and a table? Or a small area where you can set down groceries while opening the door?

Another idea less seldom used would be to add a covered porch/walk alongside the left wing of the house -- less of your garden would need to be moved.

The question posed by apple_pie_order is important. Is it just an entry -- how large -- or just a porch at the entrance -- how large ... or both.

Knowing how you want to use the addition matters as you weigh your options.

If you want a sit down porch to enjoy the morning sun and afternoon shade, you need to know from what direction does the sunlit shine into the area.

Idk what you post about budget, but I'd trim, or remove plants by the front door. Buy a hose holder in a color to blend with house, not stick out.

Please take photos to show more of that area, and then the entire house. Would it help to remove the grass to make a wider walkway.

Practical q.- is it a pain to walk around the triangle of the landscaping?

You could have a concrete walkway (from the garage door to the front door) with a white pergola.
If you make it about four feet wide it will become a porch. The knee-high green plants are overgrown and could be replaced with something that will accept trimming. I would do something to hide the hose…maybe a weatherproof cabinet or cover could work. The crepe myrtle tree adds nice color, and I would perhaps plant a pink azalea or two to the left of the hose.

Concern whether a structure will 'hide' the entry, visually.

If that's a garage at the left... house needs its width across the front for balance.

The garden bed is encroaching on the entry and making it feel smaller than it actually is. I would remove the shutters, replace the light with a larger fixture, pressure wash the walk and drive and completely redo the bed with updated, airy plantings, widening the walk at the door itself with more of a landing spot. Current plants are too formal and rigid for your home. Painting your front door and storm a bright inviting color will help too.

Thanks for all of your help. I would like a little sitting area but not sure how to go about it. Love all the ideas.

By sitting area - do you picture a bench, or 2 chairs/table?

First power-wash the sidewalk and driveway. That will give you a clean start.
Second, thin out the border where it does not spread onto the sidewalk. Add shrubs to the middle area.
Add at least 3 trellis with a vine or climbing roses by the brick wall.
That’s an inexpensive start . You can add to the design as you can

Paint the door and add shutters to the windows.

I would trim down the low shrubs but rip out the grass and replace it with gray pebble gravel. Then I would put in a bistro table and seating, or a bench like this, but use container plants in beautiful pots.

Tiny Gravel Garden · More Info

Queen Anne Upper Deck · More Info

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Even nicer if you are in a climate to grow a fruit tree in a container.

Or you could try something like this!

KMLD · More Info

Along the side of the house I would either store the hose in the garage or building a little cabinet for it, and put plants into that narrow bed, even if just some ground cover (be careful not to dig deep so close to your foundation).

If you don’t do an arch of roses (or vines or jasmine) and it doesn’t cut too much light to the interior, an awning or even an independent umbrella might look very sweet as part of your new patio.

Outdoor Patio Umbrella 10' Steel Cantilever, Crank and Base, Tan · More Info

Suggest not only enhancing front entrance, but making it more practical. I’d try to transplant bushes to other side of walkway. Then remove that whole weird section, add a new surface (choice based on budget) bordered by driveway, walkway and side of house, similar to below. Then add a pergola.

Suggest removing the shutters, add a cute light/address plaque, urns and seating. I‘d paint front door white to tie in with pergola and be sure garage door is neutral to fade into brick.

Loving all of the ideas here is better pic of house

Would you paint the brick

No, I would not paint the brick. I would prune the bird of paradise (or whatver it is) next to the front door back about 18 inches. It's making the entryway smaller.

You have a really nice looking home and yard. Agree with apple_pie_order and others that say would not paint the brick. If you want to add paint/color to the front, consider what color you'd paint porch posts? White or something else.

If you were to add an 8' deep front porch from the left wing of the house to the right corner of the porch, with posts and supports spaced to enable it, you could be extending forward the depth of the carport enabling you to add/enlarge a storage room at the back so you don't see stored stuff beneath the carport and, because the new extension to the carport would be BESIDE the new porch, you'd have shelter walking between carport and front door. Just move your planting area forward, in front of the existing sidewalk and alongside the left wing of the house and alongside the driveway or in a circle planting area toward the front of the yard ... so you can add new shrubs that keep their leaves and look good year round in front of your new porch.