I'd prune those shrubs. Here are other ideas: http://www.houzz.com/exterior-cape-cod-cottage

Your house is so cute. I would prune back the bushes, add flowers in front of the white fence, and flower pots on your front porch. Think spring!!

Yep agreed...bushes have to go!

The bushes are definitely overgrown, so either replacing them with better shrubbery or flowers would be the first line of action. Secondly, with that large yard, it may be good to plant a few decorative trees to break it up. A corner fence is something people on corner lots often do.

Remove the overgrown shrubs, and if you plan to plant new ones, check the height under the windows so you know how big the biggest shrub you would want there can be then when you are at the nursery you can choose based on how large they will be when fully mature.

If that tree that I see is actually in your yard, have an arborist check its health and thin it out a bit. Branches over the roof not only fill your gutters with dead leaves but can be a hazard to the roof in strong storms.

Have the lawn de-thached, cored/aerated, and re-seeded - unless you plan to lay new sod.

Next fall plant lots of bulbs for spring flowers. Daffodils, Iris, and day lilies are good choices. Tulips usually only come up for 1-2 years before the squirrels dig them up and eat them. Deer avoid daffodils. If you actually do plan to re-sod the yard, buying a few hundred crocus bulbs for naturalizing and hand cast them on the bare earth before you lay the sod over them.

Planting some creeping phlox along the borders of any sidewalk or stepping stones is another nice touch.

Thank you all for the suggestions. We are planning on clearing out the front shrubs and redoing those beds. Any suggestions on a border for the new plantings we want to make sure we break it up from the rest of the yard. I will also try to get some updated images up here soon.

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/video/0,,20505938,00.html is a good video about how to edge your flower beds. His suggestion of using your garden hose to help you visualize the edge of the border is a good one. These tips will help you keep your beds separate from the yard. I am not sure if you're asking about plants you want for the border of the garden, or if you mean some kind of fence or other feature to create a border? If you're asking about plants, that will depend on your growing zone since some things grow better than others...

I'd put a little tree right in the corner of the house (directly under the chimney part in the middle). A flowering dogwood would be perfect!

Id say an evenly trimmed shrub all along the front of the house (that doesn't rise above the windows) with a few feet of space left in front of it for planting some flowers!