One place I like to go look for ideas is Better Homes and Gardens website (bhg.com). They have a whole bunch of free garden plans of all sizes and uses. You have to sign up for a membership to their site (which is free) to look at the detailed planting guides, but if you can ignore all the really annoying ads and tons of pop ups (some of which talk to you, you may want to put your PC on mute) their garden plans are gorgeous. Even if you don't use their cookie cutter setups, they give you great ideas.
You have a wonderful blank canvas to work with, good luck!
What I did when I got started was spend TONS of time looking at nursery websites (use that Garden Watchdog 30 list!), and then googling plants I thought were possibilities.
Sometimes I'd find that the plant that looked perfect was actually invasive, or needed conditions I couldn't give it. I wasn't daunted - I kept surfing and searching, and the vision of my homescape kept evolving.
Most important: **Garden in your head for a while before you do anything too permanent. Have a vision you can chunk down and do a little of at a time as your budget allows**
That front has tons of potential. I love the triangular area photo-left of the door, and the neat little angle to the stepdown. I'd fit a big container right there if I were you. Or a big buncha bearded iris. A flowering groundcover that flows over the top of the bricks along that walk would be gorgeous (phlox subulata?). And I think I hear your expanse of lawn begging for a little tree to bloom in the spring. But I hear that whenever I see an expanse of lawn...
You don't mention which way the house faces, so it's hard to recommend much specifically (southern full sun? eastern half sun?). Bluestone Perennials and Brent & Becky's Bulbs have good search engines to suggest possibilities for the soil/sun on your site. Have fun with it, and keep taking photos.
Love that little iron fence, very nice decorative feature.
One thing that jumped out at me right away was the mailbox. Can you move it to the end of the path by the sidewalk? It would be cute painted in the same colors as yor house, with a little vine on it. It just looks like it's taking up too much space by your front door. Maybe that's only because it's so alone, LOL.
Have fun creating a garden that says "you"!
One tip I have found that works really well, if something really works in the yard and you love it, plant more of it! Plants look best in big swaths, not dotted here and there.
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