Look around your neighborhood. There will probably be some houses with simple landscaping (ie low maintenance) that does well in your location. See what you like, figure out what it is.

What I would do is measure the length and width of the left-side area (rough estimate about 12' by 5 or 6'??). Now fit in super-easy, colorful plants, with tallest to the outside left, medium under the window, shortest in front. The plants I'm listing have performed best and easiest for me (zone 7 east coast), with basically no work on my part other than digging the initial bed.

Tall: Buddleia (butterfly bush). Comes in white, lavender, rosy purple, and dark purple. After the first season or two, when it's getting pretty big, all you have to do is in Fall, lop all the branches off about 10 inches from the ground -- no fancy pruning required, just lop it all off and it will come back in Spring.

Medium: Echinacea (coneflower) -- large daisy-like flowers in lavendars, reds and oranges. Rudbeckia (black eyed susans) - similar to coneflower, but brighter yellows, and in my experience they don't come back as reliably as coneflower. But very pretty!

Daylilies: mounds of grass like foliage, flowers at various heights in mostly yellows, oranges, some dark reds and some almost whites. Read the label and choose what you like.

Short: Nepeta (catmint) -- lavender flowers. Gaillardia (blanket flower) -- reds, yellows, daily like flowers.

Take your measurements on a piece of paper to a local garden center and don't be shy about asking them for help planning which specific plant to choose and where to plant it, marking it on your drawing.

And on your front porch, a large pot of petunias or geraniums would look great.

I would enlarge and curve the bed on the left side of your house so you can get the layered look you are hoping for. Use a garden hose to lay out a relaxed, natural looking space. Continue that same line across the walkway to the other side and add a planting bed there. Since your porch Is small you don’t have a lot of room for pots. Use the area in front of it as a planting bed instead.

Your windows are too low for flower boxes and will just take up space on the porch.

The left side is narrow right now and husband just worked hard to fill in the front of that and what would be the area to plant in front of the porch lol. If we were to extend the left and create a bed on the right, it seems like it should maybe wrap around the side? I think extending either side would result in gutter flooding into it without significant landscape adjustments that might create other grading issues. Our property is in a hole and there are issues at the front end caused by the city. If I need to stick with the existing space or only a slight increase maybe more doable. Filling the space with lush greenery and color versus spreading outward with variation in height without crowding... ??

You should create a bed in front of the porch by removing some of the grass. The only way you’ll hide that edge is by planting things in front of it. You only have room for a row of small flowers unless you extend that bed on the left. You said you wanted a layered look and I gave you a suggestion as to how to get one. Right now your planting area is too narrow.

Paint concrete porch a pop of color, knock out rose bushes easy to grow will bring color, a small water feature perhaps, petite bistro set on front porch

Your beds are simply too narrow for anything other than short plants. There should always be room between plantings and your foundation and walls for air and sun to reach your house. Also makes pruning and cleanup a little easier and everything will look better if not too crowded. Before planting anything such as bushes and trees, you should determine the diameter of the mature plantings, not their size when first planted. I think when you do that you will find the current beds are just too narrow. Finally you can improve drainage even from the downspouts with appropriate grading of the ground, higher at the house leading away from it.

Some bright Adirondack chairs in yellow or red would look great and give you some color too! I’m not familiar with your zone so can’t help there but agree about widening beds.

As other commenters have said the current bed on the left is too narrow to put in layers. You could do a row of drawl boxwood which is low maintenance or a row of flowering plants. Daylilies are easy and when they aren’t in bloom, you have the green foliage. There should be a county/state agricultural dept that has information on plants for your zone. Or google plants for zone 8a

Jinx had good ideas! Curtains and a swing on that porch plus a rail as in that third picture would work with your configuration. . Bring the beds way out on both sides, match the point down on the sidewalk (first two pictures) which will make your walkway/entry look larger. Go to a local nursery for advice on low care plants in varying heights. I’d put the tallest on both sides nearest the outside corner, then fill in to the house. You might as well take some time to wander your nurseries, see what warms your eye and is easy. If you don’t mind a bit of extra work, hanging baskets around the porch will dress it up. Fuschias are gorgeous, pretty much only need watering, and when you get cold weather, you can store them in a garage. It doesn’t have to happen all at once or even in a year. Take your time, enjoy!

First I would find a local nursery with a good selection of local plants and helpful staff. I may take some time but well worth the effort. Since you say you have a "terrible black thumb" I would go with perennials, only local so they will thrive with little to no care. Take your time, adding new ones every year as you find what you like and ones that thrive in your beds. It is pretty inexpensive to add pops of color seasonally with annuals until your beds are well populated. Ask around and you may find gardeners that will share clumps of their perennials. They are generally a friendly bunch :).

Without knowing where you live, how much water you can depend on for irrigation, whether you get summer rain, etc, it’s difficult to recommend plants. I would address the porch first, since it appears that you need to put in a more substantial step there. I would add porch railings for safery and framing. Pots take up too much room on a small porch. If you add railings, you could do railing planters instead.

Something to consider early on is whether you want a tree in your front yard. It’s good to get that in before you commit to planting beds. If it allowed in your community, I would plant a small-to-medium tree in the left patch of lawn, to balance out the porch and add sime privacy to the room behind that window.

I would go ahead now and lay out beds on both sides. You have the room and can make some very nice beds. Like i said in another post, even if you just get the beds cut out and filled with mulch it will give you some interest. The beds don’t have to be symetrical, and actually they look more interesting if they aren’t, they just need to relate to each other.

Adorable house. So much potential. I would plant on each side of your sidewalk with low plants such as hostas for example. Meet those up with landscape on each side of the sidewalk in front of the house. Flank your window with some type of box wood, add heigh on both corners of the house with a drawf tree of some type or add hydrangeas if there is room. I would paint the cement a pop of color, add a decorative mat for the front door, and curtains on the right side of the porch . Add a small table under the window (something square or oblong with chairs on each side. Or if there is room, you can add a porch swing where the curtains will go. You can replace the shudders with bigger ones and maybe a different color to compliment the porch. Also, framing out the windows with decorative pieces can add great curb appeal. Pressure wash eveything first before you start to take the grime off. The sidewalk and porch can also be stamped with a decorative pattern. Add potted plants with color on each side of your step. I would also paint the down spouts the same color as the house so they don't stand out. Another idea would be to frame out the opening of the porch and add a plaque with your house numbers :-). Hope this helps!!

A beautiful over sized window box with draping vines. Just mulch below. Flower pots and hangers on deck. Change both out for the seasons. Stain deck same gray or shade darker than the house.

Enlarge your beds by laying down a thick layer of wet newspaper on top of the grass, cover it with mulch. No need to dig up the grass. The paper
also keeps weeds from growing.
Next Spring buy azaleas when they are super cheap as a background layer for the beds. If you can afford the azaleas that bloom year round,
get them. Sprinkle the mulch several times a year with Preen to keep it weed free.
A hydrangea bush in front of your porch would give you some privacy in time.
Stain the porch concrete black.

Consider what will not die in the winter when choosing what to put in your beds. You don’t want a vibrant, lush bed in spring and summer with a dead look all winter long. 🤷🏻‍♀️

As a gardener who was a noob about ten years ago, I suggest listening to everyone’s advice above. I started with smaller beds, and there’s just not much you can do with them. Expanding the size is going to achieve the look you want.

If you live in the right gowing zone, agapanthus on either side would be perfect! They are practicaly foolproof for those of us with less than accomplished skills as gardeners They look like brilliant and varying shades of blue purple floral fireworks, but at the same time, they are elegant in their simplicty, plus they naturalize and will spread to create a nice bank of long green leaves with the lollipop bursts of blue. They will be a handsome accent for your grey house. Good luck

Some option with shrubs

Beautiful!!

I got an app for my phone called PICTURE THIS and it identifies plants!!!! Now, if you see something you like in your zone, you can easily find out what it is!

Maybe, to add interest, have that center downspout empty into a large pot filled with rocks

I think you stated you have drain/water issues with yard. One way to help reduce mud is to use gravel as a ground cover. This can be used in place of ground cover between your plantings if you are concerned about widening plant beds and too much water overflow. Again, your local nursery can guide you on appropriate material for your area/needs.