I think I would ask why exactly you want a lot of landscaping (at least the amount suggested by the terracing idea). The house is actually nicely framed and grounded by the surrounding treescape, and the lawn is nice. If you really want to do something you could get away with a couple of nice shrubs in the lawn or a little grouping of conifers out front somewhere. If you want riot of colour or a formal set of boxwood hedges, those would be personal preferences rather than real needs indicated by the site, at least in my opinion. Maybe if you tell us more what look you're after, people would be more able to make suggestions.

Does the lower half of the garden level off? If you use the blocks, I have laid thousands of them, you absolutely MUST lay a buried, or partially buried, row. Depending on your soil, you may be able to just level it with native soil but it would be much wiser to put in a few inches of sand to level the bottom blocks. How much higher is the high end from the lower? Which way is the slope the long way or the short way? I raised the lower end of my one garden by eight inches by putting in old railroad ties from Menards. I protected my one rose garden from winds by putting a tie wall three high at the North short end but I am going to drop it down to two high. The entire garden has ties one level high with stair-case type rising to the high end. Whether you use landscape timber or railroad ties, buy twelve to sixteen inch spikes to fasten them together. There are long, I have used up to twelve inch, screws that are easier to install but cost more. A heavy-duty 3/4 inch drive drill makes putting the screws in easier. I have driven spikes in with a sledge but it takes practice as the most common error is not hitting the spike square and ruining the hammer handle. The base is VERY, VERY important or the wall will collapse or as happened to a person I worked with wash out from underneath in a heavy rain because they were in a hurry. I half buried layer of ties for the vegetalbe garden as it frop apprx six inches from one end and is not not level but does not wash in a heavy rain anymore.

Me, too ... rocks PITA. One tremendous advantage to a longstanding mulch bed it that it is weed free so it is ready to plant now. One doesn't have to spray weeds, wait for them to die and also fear their return. The first thing to consider is picking the right groundcover. It must be one that is tough, moderately aggressive but hopefully not overly so, low height -- I would say here 6" to 12" is good -- and accepts the light conditions. Some groundcovers will grow in sun and shade. You don't want a groundcover that stays in a slowly enlarging clump because it would take forever for it to cover. There's probably a wide range of climate zone in NY. You must get groundcover that works well in your area. A great way to see what's possible is to visit a nearby botanical garden, or look around where you live and see what people are growing on slopes and in shady areas that fulfills the plant requirements. Vinca minor or Liriope spicata might be a possibility. Euonymus fortunei 'Coloratus' might be another and surely there are more. Be sure to check what grows well there, though, because you don't want to start down the wrong road with a plant that will be no end of trouble. Considering that acquiring enough plants to cover this area could be costly, you might consider learning to propagate whatever groundcover you use. Then, the best source of plant material will be anyone you can find who's growing it and needs it trimmed or thinned (if it must be dug.) I had no trouble at all acquiring groundcover in this manner. If you get cuttings that must be rooted, it's typically a 3-4 week process, but can net you hundreds or thousands of rooted cuttings in a short period of time. Another factor will be that after you plant the area, new plants will need to be watered FAITHFULLY. Too, extra water will help them grow really fast. You don't want to plant a bunch of little plants that end up dying so make sure there's a watering plan in effect before you plant.

It looks to me like you could stand to have the driveway widened a little, creating better access to the front entrance and getting rid of the patio pavers in gravel. Whether it's a simple widening or a drive re-do, it your choice. The former would work as an interim solution. It would be good to reconfigure the walk to the stoop to make it more useful and attractive. It could be standalone or part of a drive widening project. The logical place to create seating for impromptu gatherings is under the overhang at the right of the stoop. Because of the overhang, it's not a good area for growing foundation plants. If you park or drive at left of driveway, it looks like you may need to extend the driveway with a permanent driveway material. That would solve the packed mud problem. In general, you need a landscape plan for the front yard that includes both hardscape and planting. The speed with which you implement it, and whether it was in pieces or in total, would be up to you. As far as giving you specific solutions, the pictures are too small, fuzzy, dark & partial.