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.

Yeah, I don't get this question either. M. grandiflora even in my NJ/Zone 7 yard is a huge, sprawling, DENSE tree, branches literally touch the ground. Even if the you have removed the lower branches on yours, no tree would grow under it. Under a few of mine (which were limbed up), I have underplanted with Helleobores. Off to the sides, I have Butterfly bushes..., which do get big from zones 7 on up.

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.

An entry porch would look very good on this house. It would relieve the flatness of the fascade (similar to how the bay windows relieve the flatness) and would just improve the character. If that is not an option for you then, as other posters have said, get new, larger fixtures and place them closer to the door. In addition to that I would remove some of the shrubs to have a clearer view of the front.