I'd start by planting the little strip on the right side of the path to the front door. It must be a pain to mow. (Same for the strip of grass in front of the bay window though it's hard to tell what's really going on there from the picture.) You would thus have a terraced type of planting. Plants appropriate for your zone and area would be up to you, though looking at the palm trees in the distance, I think you should seriously rethink all that grass and go for xeriscaping, keeping perhaps just a small area of grass if you really want it.

There must be trees appropriate for your area other than palms that might provide some shade and interest.

The old-fashioned raised beds along the garage/house are a no-go for me. They’re small which force plantings right next to the building resulting in low air flow and plants absorbing all the heat reflected off the building, under the roof overhang which prevents rain from reaching the plants. Tear them all out and create new beds on the flat ground which reach from the building to the existing sidewalk. Plant things so that they will not touch the building WHEN THEY ARE FULLY GROWN.

You have a big yard. I'd put a lovely flowering tree or two in the yard.

I’d widen and curve the path leading to a quarter-round courtyard to create a small sitting area to the left of the front door. Make it semi-private with tall bushes and small trees. VERY rough mock-up in need of a gardeners planting scheme.

I did not suggest removing the planters because the OP said she didn't want to "break the bank," but yes, they are outdated and ideally should be removed.

Again, however, the location appears to be basically hot and dry--go with xeriscaping and trees appropriate for that.

Hopefully you are in an area that gets rebates for converting to lawn to xeriscape. We put a paver walkway from our front porch to the street and landscaped with boulders, low water use plants and rock mulch and love how low care it is!

You wanted flowers so here are some that do well for us.

Desert willow that blooms all summer

Chuparosa CA native

Parry's penstemon

Lantana with desert milkweed and Texas Olive behind

Texas Ranger

Hope you include a lot of cacti/succulents that look good all year:)