If going more modern, remove the shutters. Take out that bit of rickety fence. How do hydrangeas do in your area? You might look for plants compatible to your zone. Should be able to find a list online. What does M&M Landscaping suggest for plants?

Christina -- Here are a couple of websites to get you started:

https://www.egardengo.com

http://www.greatplantpicks.org

I would paint the house in a mid- to charcoal grey, not black. I don’t think I have ever seen a truly black house, and I don’t think it would look modern, just depressing.

I like the fence your brother made. Where will the 4’ fence be placed? It is really difficult to figure out how all the disconnected photos fit together without an over view, either a cropped photo from an online aerial photo or a set of photos taken from across the street or a plot plan which you may be able to get from the city and then draw onto. For instance, mark fence and pergola locations. Do worry about the tree blocking things; it will give us an overview of the front of your property.

Consider if a 4’ fence is the best choice. I think that between the couple of feet of rock wall and a 4’ fence, your house may just look barricaded from the street view. Would a 3’ or 3 1/2’ fence do the job without the fortress look? Try using cardboard or fabric fastened to lightweight poles as a mockup fence out in the yard to judge appearance.

I have a memory that you have posted before, but I can’t find it. Can you add a link to that thread? My memory is that it had some good suggestions.

Replace the porch posts with something more substantial and at the very least, paint the rails black or a few shades darker than the house paint you will do. If you can afford it, replace with something in similar style to the fences.

I see a small child toy. How will you be using the front yard? You will want all the walls kid-proofed, including building the fence to code so it can’t be climbed by a child slightly older than yours is currently. If you want to plant something between the top of the rock wall and the fence, put in a buried edging strip under the fence so the grass stays on the lawn side. I would likely plant a flowering evergreen groundcover on the outside of the fence since the bed looks quite narrow and you don’t want shrubbery growing out into the public walkway. Be sure to kill all the grass growing there first. What groundcover would work best depends on your ability to water and natural rainfall and the amount of light available.

Until I have a better feel for the property overall, I cannot make much in the way of constructive suggestions about other plantings. What is off the left and right side of your current photos to the property lines? How much room is there between the house and the maple tree? House and fence? The pergola doesn’t fit in with modern to my eye, but perhaps it has been replaced or has a purpose beyond its appearance in your photo where it looks to deadend into another fence. Be prepared to do battle as far as the wisteria removal as they will send up sprouts from the roots for years unless killed chemically.

The mulch border at the foreground of the scene could logically be a band of low groundcover. Currently, this border is too narrow to look in good proportion to the yard. It would be better if at the left side it matched up with the left house edge and if at the front it was at least 4' or 5' depth (band width). A single groundcover would look better than a multitude of different plants, which are going to look busy. In the illustration I'm trying to fit two of your photographs together, that don't really go together. Hopefully you can get the idea.

At the house foundation could be a basic shrub lined up with the window and fill in the rest with perennials and some annuls flanking the steps for a cheery welcome. If you pick an evergreen flowering shrub, it will have the effect of a windowbox while it blooms and be otherwise something something dressy ... presuming you prune it properly.

some ideas:

The photos help a lot.

I am still not completely sure where the new fence is planned for. All the way across the front of the property? What is its goal, to create a private front yard, or safety for the top of the wall or . . ? Or will it be like a mirror image of the right side? Or will it be running parallel to the drive of the neighbor on the left?

I wouldn’t remove the little crabapple on the tree lawn, both because I like it and I don’t think it detracts from the sense of welcome. It also may not be yours since in many cities the city controls what is planted in the tree lawn. I agree with Yardvaark about limbing up the large maple a bit and moving the J maple to a spot near the edge rather than centered in the yard, perhaps off the left or right side of the house.

Whether you move the arbor over the walk and the little maple depends on the location of the fence. If the fence goes all the way across the front, you can leave the J maple since it won’t block anything that the fence isn’t already blocking. And in that scenario, the arbor should be integrated into the fence. The wisteria should be totally removed because it is just too large a plant to have that close to a walkway, and it is far too large for the arbor and will bring it down in a few short years.

I would also get rid of the arbor/pergola off the left side of the house since it has no apparent purpose and doesn’t add anything aesthetic.

In the front foundation bed choose most plants that will stay below the level of the window without a lot of pruning. You don’t have a tall or unattractive foundation, so not much is needed beyond adding some interest. Small shrubs involve the least maintenance if you choose ones sized proportionately. Off the left corner can be taller, but not higher than the current pergola when mature, and not overly wide. You don’t want it to look like it is eating the house. Be sure some of the plants in the foundation bed have winter interest: evergreen, colorful twigs or light bark and an interesting form against the dark grey of the house. And likewise think about flowers or colorful foliage or berries in the warmer seasons. You can use all one plant or a few kinds. Be sure the bed is deep enough that there is at least a foot between the plants when mayture and the house so there is air circulation. Don’t plant until the painting is done to avoid damaged plants.

Edge the bed with a cut or a buried edging, add mulch and perhaps continue the same flowering evergreen groundcover used elsewhere under and around the shrubs. Choose plants that will be happy in your part to full shade conditions.

Yes , both the rock wall and a solid fence would be a bit much across the front, though if you want an open fence such as welded wire or something like those in the link below for safety reasons, that would likely be OK.

https://www.lowes.com/pl/Fence-panels-Fencing-gates-Building-supplies/4294402515?refinement=4294402454

I'm in your garden zone (Edmonds, WA) and one of my favorite plants is Japanese Forest Grass (variegated, especially). It looks great with purple heuchera. I have both of those planted all along my rock wall. Someone else suggested hydrangeas, which I also love, especially 'Little Lime', 'Twist and Shout', and any of the oak leaf varieties. All of these are easy to care for with no disease or pest issues. Shenandoah Switch grass and all Japanese maples are beautiful and do well in our zone.

And another great tree is Stewartia.

Many of the features built into houses of this period were expressly for the purpose of saving costs ... minimal trim, minimal or non-existent roof overhang, smaller windows, narrow walks & drives, etc. A by-product of this cost-saving strategy was lack of charm. Even though shutters were non-functional, using them was one way people figured out to add a little interest and charm to an otherwise relatively plain looking piece of architecture. It was usually enough to help, if not entirely counteract, the blank wall effect. If a house style begs for clean, austere lines I could understand the goal to remove shutters. But many times the house is begging for more interest! I can't get on with this shutter-removal fad that seems predicated primarily on the fact of present day shutters being non-functional or appearing that way. I agree, they should be right-sized -- as any trim should be. But I can't see that removing them is really helping the look in many cases. I don't think it is here.

i agree with yardvaark. if you don't add wider trim around the windows, removing the shutters isn't always a good look.

some ideas using wider trim:

i think that's a good idea!

It will decrease the natural light coming into the room, which would be more important to me than how it looks from outside. I really treasure all the natural light my windows can gather in our short winter days, so I would find another way to dress up the window area such as wide trim if it were my house.

I think the bump-out is OK, but not shutters flanking it (if that's what the black panels represent.)

agree again.

I like the ideal of having a nice window box built. That gives you the choice of replacing the color and theme each season. Lots of great ideal have been posted already just thought the simple touch of a window box would bring a very warm touch.