Yes! get together your 'inspiration' images and likes. They will be able to make a plan... to include doing the work in phases, as budget allows. Find a local professional familiar with your neighborhood. HAVE FUN!

Go to a small garden center that offers design services with a focus on native plants. There's a lot you can do with your yard with colorful plantings, trees, grasses, hadscaping, dependent on water conditions, soil and budget.

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Not crazy about the shutters though the color is nice. Think about removing them unless they're storm shutters and painting the front door that great color!

Landscape Designer or Landscape Architect is in a different $$$$ category than your home.

I believe you are simply looking for a local landscaper, driveway contractor, or garden center for an assist.

"Landscape Designer or Landscape Architect is in a different $$$$ category than your home."

Not at all!! A landscape architect - perhaps. But then most LA's do not focus on residential properties anyway. But a landscape designer is a very affordable option and appropriate to any size or value of property.

And you DO need a designer, not just someone who implements. They rarely have the design skills or experience to pull off what you need.

I don't know about double parking spaces. You have a charming small house. Doubling the driveway/parking will diminish the house. If you have to add a spot, can you do so on the side.

Some further thoughts to be worked out with garden designer:

You have beautiful, graceful Spanish moss on your tree and shade below. Maybe consider garden seat under the tree:

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A pergolo style portico like this one in cedar with blue door has a Florida Spanish vibe to it--cheaper than other options.

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The pandemic has encouraged more outdoor socializing and made their front yards more neighbor friendly. Here are some seating areas in front. You could extend your driveway pavers to create a gathering spot out front:

Found this photo of a paver driveway and front patio combination. It could use some beautiful landscaping instead of lawn but you get the idea.

Yellow orange houses with green trim and doors:

Housegal, your photo search skills are amazing! I really appreciate your suggestions and the pics, which get so close to our house and what we might do. Some more info in response to your comments:

- The house looks deceptively small from the front (and the yard must be designed with that in mind) but it's actually, L-shaped with almost 2,000 sq ft. total. Think of the front as the short bottom of the L. Extending out back is the long part, which contains a Florida room, laundry/utility room, owner's suite and separate in-law 1 BR apartment. There's a large deck on the back of the "short L" side and a big patio at the far end of the "long L" side. So we have plenty of outdoor socializing space already and if we enlarge the front entry, it would mainly be to provide a more welcoming entry that would, hopefully, be in better proportion to the house. Maybe more of a traditional front porch with simple square columns, a chair or two and a bit of decor. That is typical of many houses in this neighborhood. A friend suggested extending the porch to the end of the small window and adding a gable above. How does that strike you?

- You're right about the shutters. We hadn't really paid attention to them before, but now getting rid of them is definitely under consideration. They're the wrong size and some windows have them while others don't. Love the idea of painting the front door that same blue color. Maybe some of the trim, too, like the stucco window sills? And/or the columns?

- We have no garage (pretty sure there was one originally, but someone before us turned it into the laundry/utility room and master suite) and the driveway is narrow between the house and fence, so our only option now is to park one car behind the other. It's a pain to always have to move the "last in" car to get the "first in" car out, so we're hoping to find a practical solution that blends in with the updated porch and landscaping. Maybe like the pic below, but for us, situating the wide part on the left side as you face the house. Many houses in this neighborhood have U-shaped pull-through driveways, but I'm dubious about making a vehicle parked in the U the focal point of our lovely new yard.

- There are some very good small garden centers with native plant expertise nearby and we're confident that once we figure out the front entry and hardscaping design, deciding on plantings, trees, grasses, etc. will be the easier and more fun part of the project.

Again, thank you so much for your input.

You're welcome. Your house is lovely, so I'm glad you have more of it. The example of a driveway you posted is great! Go for it. If you have beautiful landscaping it will be practical and wonderful. Good luck!

The house that looks similar in color to yours has a deeper green than your shutters. It would add an elegance to the front if you painted the door THAT green. Is the exterior color staying as is?

Beth H, thanks for your input and photos. Much food for thought. What a beautiful transformation of your house and yard! Too bad about the weed seeds. Do you have a photo of the replacement xeriscape? I might be open to that instead of lawn, though my husband less so. As you can see a bit on the right side of our driveway, our neighbors have bark mulch instead of grass. Thanks especially for the link to the Florida blue cottage/white columns article. Totally amazing! Their "after" porch is the most similar photo to what we're thinking we might do. Several commenters have asked if we plan to change the house color, but we do not. Apparently not everyone likes it as much as we do. :-) Also, the cost of repainting is not in the cards right now.