I'd suggest you get out the garden hoses and start playing around with planting bed shapes that give you 3-8 ft of bed for a tiered set of planting. Be sure to make the shapes easy to mow around and big enough to give you 2- 3 layers of plantings.

Taller bushes in the areas away from the windows, lower under windows and closer to the grass. You didn't say what planting zone you're in but with a brick facade, I'm guessing it's not coastal CA. If Cordyline grows in your area, try the greener or more purple varieties in front of taller bushes like leptospermum, crepe myrtle, noelli, or even upright tuscan rosemary. MId-size bushes offset in front of those -- barberry, variagate mock oranges, then lower plants or Put annuals out by the edge nearest the grass.

Thank you so much Samsamyd! We are in the Northern DFW area with some very dry ground and restricted watering times in our city.

absoulutely agree wti Dar Eckert -- local nurserys often have a person on staff who can come out, advise; or an actual landscape designer. Might even want to try the local state Agriculture office to see if they know of any budding interns, and hold a contest for best design...

That's a really good idea! With this being our first home and dealing with landscaping do you all know a cost range for having someone come out to design if we are unable to find an intern?

What part of the country do you live in? Houzz has a site for finding local pros. I would check there.

We are in the Northern Dallas-Ft. Worth Area. That's great, I will check that out! Thank You!!!

Hi neighbor! I live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area too and the soil and trying to keep things alive can be a challenge with our sizzling summers! I totally get it! I took several pictures of my landscaping issues to my local Lowes store for help and suggestions on plants and bushes. "Free help". I used a hose to lay out my "design", and placed my plants ( still potted ) until I was happy with the layout. I rearranged several times until I got the feel I wanted. I'm very happy with the results. I continue to add different perennials in in stages. I also buy a lot of planting at Lowes towards the back of the garden center that are deeply discounted, that way I haven't invested a ton of money on something that may not make it. So far everything has though. My brick is the same color as yours and I used black mulch ... It looks fantastic! Didn't want the red that everybody else uses with a red house... Too much! Hope this helps a little. Would love to come over and help you ... I love outside projects!!!

You desperately need to embellish that facade! and, maybe some xero-scaping, then pretty plantings of perinnials and low bushes... you could also add some flowering trees (small) to the mix.... You are in a great climate for plantings.

Incorporate large planters in your landscape design. They compliment the style of your home.

Good suggestions above. Please remove the grass. It serves no function. It wastes water. Xeriscaping is the future and nearly maintenance free. Because of the completely smooth flat surface leading up to the facade it creates a very cold, stark, and abrupt delineation between the inside and outside world. That means your front yard is part of the outside world. You own it. You need to reclaim it. The design needs to start at the side walk and work it's way back to the facade. If you understand this concept you can create the master plan yourself. Landscape designers are the most underutilized resource in residential housing. If you can afford one you won't regret a dollar you pay them. Your house has good strong lines with huge windows. You just need some nice natural texture in front to compliment(soften) it.

You all are awesome and have some really great ideas~ Thank You So Much!! We went to our local nursery the other day and spent a lot of time showing pictures of our home and talking with the employees about our vision and how to best execute it. They were so helpful!! Thank you all for all the many wonderful ideas and suggestions. We are definitely going to be utilizing them. :D