Perhaps painting the front door/ screen door a lively color ( I am thinking a crimson red), updating the porch light to something a bit fancier and adding some flowering shrubs will help to add some wow and color to this very quickly. And relatively inexpensively too.

circular raised planting bed around that large tree with colorful flowers, painted punch of color door, potted flowers on front step.

Front: remove the 2 bushes on the left side, prune the others so that they are the same size or shape.If possible remove storm door, paint front door red or black in high gloss paint, get a more modern light and put some tubs full or flowers at the bottom of the steps (if there is room). If the budget stretches you can plant around the tree, but try and get the lawn healthier looking.
Side: tidy the bushes, get some pots with flowers, change light fixture. If budget permits I would put a taller bush near the step to break up the wall, or near to the power meter. From the photo it looks like the lawn needs some work so get that taken care of.
If you have a budget for preparation putting in flowering shrubs and plants will definitely perk the house up. A riot of color and nice lawn is attractive.
Good luck!

definitely add a punch of color to the front door....I'm not a fan of bright red....maybe a more muted red/winish color ..... your house already shows well in the pic!
Also...the front step is very small.....building over the concrete would make a big difference and give more room to enter the house.

First of all, don't put a raised planting around the tree. That could kill it.

I'd paint the door and the screen door the same color a sunny yellow or red (Benjamin Moore's Dinner Party is a winner.)

Large pots of annuals will give you the biggest bang for your buck. Water the lawn and get it greener. Light pruning on the shrubs should do it. I wouldn't go in for new plantings. It would be pricey at this point to get ones large enough to make a positive statement.

Good luck!

Does this yard connect to a street ? How about a path to the front door?
Remove a 4 to 5 ft wide area of sod leading up the front door in a lazy gentle 'S' curve, matching the width to line up with the existing steps to the door. Lay down a few inches of either pea gravel or compacted DG. If you can do the muscle portion of this project it is cheap easy and will really say "welcome home"!
Big Pots of annual color on either side of the front entry steps at grade level - look for ideas on designing pots with a "thriller, filler, spiller" formula - google that should give you ideas.
Ditto on the door painted a bright color. And ditto don't worry about the foundation plantings, but head down the ones on the left so they do not block the window.

White Iceberg Shrub Rose cluster (approx 10 5-gallon) in front of the tree with a 'u' shaped walk circling behind the tree and then to the front door. Or some hardscape staggered squares with grass between. See some attached pictures of a home I did in Beverly hills, Ca.

How about adding a shade bed around the tree with whatever groundcover grows well in your area. Try checking out the neighborhood for friendly gardeners with similar situations. Most of them would be happy to give you some vigorous groundcover plants and put them in with some colorful shade loving annuals like impatiens then add a little bit of mulch between them if they really look sparse.

Look at garage sales and craigslist for cheap outdoor furniture and put it directly on the lawn to the left of the sidewalk. A couple of slightly distressed adirondack chairs, a wooden garden bench, a bistro set...try to get a table too and add a container planting like an old teakettle spilling over with a vine.

Put out a few large containers with a consistent color theme, like red geraniums around a red front door, accented with a bit of yellow, You can make large containers easily by building a plywood surround joined with vertical corner pieces and placing it on the ground then putting in some cheap plastic storage tubs with holes in the bottom, Add some height with concrete blocks if needed and paint the wooden surrounds the same color as your door.