I am working on developing plans for my yard. It is long and thin, approx 50 ft x 380 ft. I am hoping the pictures are helpful. Pictures are linked here: http://imgur.com/a/py2sk. I am hoping this makes sense. I am wondering if I could get some critique of my plans.

Current Issues:
1) There is a tremendous amount of open lawn. It's really not all needed. It would be nice to have a paved/patio/deck area to lounge outside in. It's a lot to mow and maintain.
2) The large tree next to the garage is too large. It takes up a tremendous amount of space right next to the house and garage, kills the grass below it, and creates a ton of debris (leaves, sticks).
3) The grass area between the house and tree is 'clumpy?'. There are patches of dead grass or bare dirt. I suspect it is a combination of the dog plus the tree keeping light from getting into the lawn. It's just messy and rough.
4) There are trees and bushes randomly placed in the 'first half' of the lawn. The 'second half' of the lawn, beyond the trees, is all open grass space. If I ever go out on the lawn to play, that's where I go, all the way out there. The 'first half' of the lawn is just trash.

So, my plans were initially to:
1) Divide the yard in half. The 'first half', between the house and the small line of bushes in the center of the yard, a few pictures down. The 'second half' between the bushes and the end of the property (as far out as you can see in the open grass field). The first half being landscaped. The second half being kept open grass space. So, the landscaped area....
2) Extend the deck around to the "right" side of the house. I have also thought about pulling out the wood from the concrete steps, and applying stone veneer. I do not know if it is possible to continue the stone veneer (like this: http://img2-1.timeinc.net/toh/i/step-by-step/12/01-clad-steps/concrete-steps-x.jpg) if I extend the deck.
3) Extend the driveway, wrapping around the house so that when you look forward from the deck, the driveway consumes the space between the house and tree. Bushes lining the the outside edges of the driveway. The small red brick patio space being redone as driveway blacktop space or made into a garden of some kind (bushes or flowers). Alternatively, I thought that I could create a stone patio that would consume this space instead.
4) Create edging wrapping around the large base of the tree, filling it with mulch. Just to make it look nice.
5) Create a stone path of some kind from the driveway to the 'second half' of the property. Between the back of the garage and the bush line in the back being covered in ground cover or other shrubs. This space just would not be used, it would just be a landscaped 'nice' area to walk through to get to the open yard out back. It would also be an area for the dog to go potty. The stone path obviously cannot just end in the middle of nowhere, so somehow I would need to create a natural fence or gate into the other end of the property.