Depending how wide your steps are, flowering plants in pots are always nice for curb appeal., perennials and annuals of varying height should be a good replacement for the bushes as well as grasses. You might think about boulders or large rocks to give texture and variation.
You could get something tall growing for in between the two windows then it won't cut light and also hides the chimney breast.
Paint steps a neutral beige similar to brick color and I can't tell if your windows have a trim color or not, but it looks black from the photo, I would do the window trim and front door in the same color like a mocha brown. Hope that helps!

Ashleychitty, what direction does your home face and is it shaded by trees?

The house faces the north, and is somewhat shaded by the trees. The trim is a dark green.

ok Ash, if you're not sure what to do then I'd suggest you start with sorting out your structural issues - access, shape, form, style etc. to compliment the house, rather than worrying about planting detail.
Work out if you want a dedicated pedestrian entry or do you have to enter from the driveway because of the steps (I can't tell from the photos). This is important. If you want the former then make it an interesting, well-defined but fairly direct route. Mark a change of direction with a small tree offset from the path a suitable distance as a marker to walk around (perhaps uplight it). Use the main tree as the basis for the garden zones. Use a combination of straight lines and broad arcs to set up a balanced pattern in plan view. Avoid busy, wiggly curves.
Coming from Sydney I don't have experience with your climate however I'll suggest a few classic cold climate plants that may work as mid-canopy features and border structure - Japanese Maple (the purple leaf variety or the standardised form - Acer palmatum dissectum - may work), the forest pansy - Cercis canadensis, a beautiful small deciduous tree, Buxus as a low hedge to frame small trees, line a path or boundary.
Tie your front door colour to a natural colour in the garden, not too strong unless you introduce strong colours into the garden, as your house is pale-neutral. Accentuate the strong horizontal and vertical lines of the house facade in the form of the garden as seen from the street. Good luck.

hey Ashley I would definitely play up the right side of the house with something taller on each side of the windows and something bushier in between beef up that area since there is no brick there and will come together nice. Definitely nice size pot on each end of the step that leads to the door. Is the body of the house a different stone than the bottom? I would use a masonry stain as well on your front steps . Will really soften up the look . Layers of plants would be great in front , Do you want to keep the dark green trim?

You can either go ahead and experiment with using ideas given and later regret. You may want to have a landscape designer who will show you how your garden will look like and you can go ahead to implement it. I recommend the Italian designer, Ricardo. He is not very expensive. http://www.360ies.com/index.php/landscape-division/

, I agree with CalDesign about working out firstly the access to the door, etc and work out the layout. Once you have got that sorted, choose your plants and trees but dont over clutter the garden as it looks like a small space.
And I would not necessarily hide the chimney as I think it adds to the whole charming look of the house. Sometimes it is better to accentuate than disguise.

Just a heads up before you start pulling out the bushes, be prepared for a fair amount of work. I took out 5 yew bushes, which appears to be what you have, from around my garage. I cut off all the branches first to make it easier to get to the roots. I then dug out around the bases and pulled up what roots I could. A pair of lopers will come in very handy to cut the large roots that run deep. I used to landscape as well. If you are looking for low maintenance, go with daylilies. You can get them in a variety of colors and they don't require tons of maintenance. They do well at the back of the bed because they are taller. You can always leave room to plant annuals in front

If those are juniper bushes, not yews, make sure to wear long sleeves and gloves when trimming them back. They cause a temporary rash, which I always referred to as "juniper burn".

For starters, remove that window awning and change out the front door to play up the loosely mid-century lines of the house (not that you asked). I am not at landscaping expert, but I'd suggest layering different colors and textures of grasses. Put in something tall to at the very right to play off the vertical lines of the chimney. Go easy on annual flowers to keep the facade more hip. With any flowering plants, stick with whites and deep oranges/ambers to compliment the brick color......avoid reds and purples which will give too much suburban-like contrast.

Would like to see you enhance the entrance by painting the door and if finances allow replace the steps with wider tiered wood steps that step down in two or three directions. Say the top step goes from midway between the window and door and 4 or more feet deep. Second wraps the first by three feet where space allows. So the side by the garage would be regular sized steps but the sides to the north and right would have long deck-like steps for setting pots or seats. Also paint out the bricks or cover the entire area from the chimney to the door with vertical wood boards painted charcoal color then your painted door would stand out. I would like to see a red, orange or blue door. A pergola or flat roof over the door extending to the north would give rain protection to guests waiting at your door.