Your house is quite low to the ground, so you can't use tall plants close to the house. How about a garden next to the bushes that curves around to border the front sidewalk? From the photo, this might be in shade, but there are plenty of plants that you could use. If you do put in a sidewalk from the main sidewalk to the front door, make it wide enough for two to walk side-by-side and border it with shrubs and perennials. If your neighborhood suits it, a white fence along the front sidewalk would also give you the cottage look.

You could put in an island bed. Lay it out with a hose. You could have a small tree, a bird bath, a garden ornament as the center. Put it where you have a good view from your living room window.

You could do something like this (very cottagey) , except with the plants in a circle around a white tuteur, as in the second pic.

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You could also put some shade garden under your trees. Hostas will grow anywhere.

I like the garden advice you have received so far. I would get rid of the shutters, they don't add anything to the facade.

Simplynatural nailed it. Curved walk from the sidewalk. Beds with bulbs/perennials to give you blooms through out whatever your growing seasons are. Gardens like you want are built over time. Start with the walk way and see what it defines...

I can't ID the small tree/large shrub by the left corner. It looks awkward in the photos; too close to the corner. I'd remove it.

thanks all for the great suggestions!

I like the comments so far. I'd just add that it would be good to go into it with an eye toward wildlife, pollinators and edible plantings. Most are structurally beautiful. In my front gardens, I have pawpaw trees and serviceberry, medlar, persimmon, apples, hawthorn (medicinal, wildlife, and winter interest) I have a shrub layer with currants of all kinds, gooseberries, honeyberries, quince, figs (zone 5), interspersed, I have spring bulbs and perennials and have used strawberries as a groundcover.

In a few short weeks, I've harvested over 50 quarts of strawberries, so I'm set for breakfast everyday until next year's harvest. I've dehydrated about eight quarts and made strawberry wine and given away numerous berries to friends and neighbors. Hidden behind the serviceberry shrubs, I have 50 crowns of asparagus, from which I've been eating every day since May. I've pickled some, frozen some and given away a lot, too. I have a rhubarb tucked in and am trying a batch of rhubarb wine. My point is that you could benefit from the plants you choose in other ways than only visually. Not all of the plants above have beautiful fall color, but most do, along with spring blossoms and wonderful fragrance. My quince tree had stunning pale pink flowers covering it. In the fall, the aroma and golden color of the ripening fruit will be amazing. In the winter, I will enjoy the processed fruit! Not only is the aronia berry a superfood, but its intense red fall color is shocking, as are the blueberries. Yesterday, I was watching all of the butterflies flitting around, and all of the birds landing on the 'Autumn Brilliance' serviceberry to enjoy the fruit covering it. I like knowing that I am making their lives a little better, because they certainly enrich mine! When the Hawthorn grows a little older, it, too, will provide four season beauty, white spring blossoms to persistent red berries throughout the winter for the birds, and heart medicine for me. There is no downside that I've found with this kind of growing and would encourage everyone to consider some food or medicine to be grown in their yards!

simplynatural gave you an excellent mock-up. One thing you might rethink is the *need* for the walkway from the street: how often would it be utilized?

You have a fairly long driveway from the road (and walkway from there to the front door), room for a number of cars to park on the drive. Just a thot.

Planting beds given by simplynatural are properly placed (with or without added walkway from street), altho I'd consider extending (lengthening & widening) the bed (near the house) on the left all the way to the left corner of the house by the garage. I believe it would better balance the overall look. Plus, you could opt to plant a small ornamental tree there in addition to flowers.

Remember that any additional plantings will require additional maintenance. Not a deal-breaker for those of us who love flowers, but a consideration nontheless. Keep beds mulched and weed-free, or weeds will take over.

P.S. Please let us know the variety of the tree/shrub on the left at the road.

Paint the white part of the house. The lightest color is the one that "jumps out at you" and the most visible to draw the eye - basic design concept. Paint the white part, or paint the other parts white to match. Plant flowers you like - no matter what you do you may want to move them around as they grow (or die) and some plants need to be split and divided and shared. Just put flower beds every where - first along the house, driveway and house - all at least 3-5' deep. Be sure to leave a mowers width between flower beds in the middle of the yard and other flower beds.