First thought is to use pavers to create more of a walk way through the space so it feels inviting and enveloping instead of just being a flat picture stuck to the front of your house.

I would create a budget and hire a really good landscape designer and installer. There are such a wide variety of skills and you can really do a lot with drought tolerant plants but you need someone who understands how to make the most of the space itself and not just plunk down drought tolerant plants.

You could end up with something really average, boring, and not too appealing like this:

Colorful Fountain Valley Native Front Yard · More Info

Or you could end up with something spectacular like this that plays with the walkway up to the house:

South Pasadena Craftsman Cottage · More Info

This same designer uses grasses in the center of the driveway as well to tie the driveway and yard together:

South Pasadena Craftsman Cottage · More Info

Or this great design that uses succulents with strong colors and shapes:

Flagstone entrance with succulents · More Info

Or this that plays with a semi-private screen of foliage near the front door:

Mara Vista Contemporary and Soft · More Info

Love that you are going with drought tolerant plants! Olive trees, succulents, and bunch grasses like CA native deergrass look great together. I also think that a path leading more directly to your door would be a good way to get a more modern look like this.

Painting your house grey might not work well with your red roof though. It can look jarring to have a warm colored roof with a cool colored house so try some big panels on your house before committing.

Landscape boulders as big as possible and partially burried look really nice. Big succulents like octopus agave and totem pole cactus can help with a more modern vibe too.

Lots of options for drought tolerant plantings

I like Beth's front yard

@mojavemaria thank you for all the advices! Really appreciate you dropping the names of some of those plants it’s a good starting point!
We are in the process of replacing the roof so it won’t be red anymore hence why we are planning to repaint the house at the same time - it will be black roof with grey house!

IMO it’s always worth the money to hire a landscape designer to draw up a plan that can be implemented all at once or in stages. You need a plan before going out & buying a hodge podge of plants. BTW … you might want to consider a charcoal or dark grey roof rather than black given your warmer climate ?