Do you have saw palmetto, it is a native groundcover plant in Florida, that has a tropical look and covers the ground through underground shoots, and would give you a bold look, in which you could weave an entrance walk from the street to your entrance terrace at the foot of your front steps. A less tropical choice would be spreading juniper. No lawn, just beds of shrubs. Be simple and bold. When you build your front steps, please use dimensions for outdoor steps. That is, the tread should be at least 12'(30 cm) and the ratio of risers to tread should be approximate: two risers plus one tread equals 26"(66 cm).

Congratulations Mark! I really like the drawings that you did up with the new door and deck at the front. It makes a huge difference to the house. I think the all grass look at the front is a bit much. It would benefit from some sort of pathway to the deck, but I don't have the imagination of the other Houzzers, but I love what you have done so far.

I would remove those two knobs on the railing at the bottom of the stairs, otherwise the railing would be OK and I would paint that a medium grey. I would paint any window frames a light grey which will tone in with the aluminium and the guttering a dark grey. I would also paint those two big gates at the side dark grey to draw attention away from them or get a new remote controlled gate, depending on finances. The verandah surface will need more and I would tile that with a tile that looks like timber in a weathered wood colour that has greyed. All this grey will tone down the red and orangey colour of the exterior and the tiles will stand up to the weather even though they look like wood. If you remove the hedge you might find more than you bargained for, but I would wait until the rest is done and then rethink the landscaping because the look will be different.

Down the side of the house with the strip driveway you could do a few things. Between the concrete strips and the houses -Improve soil and re turf - make sure you have the right amount of light, soil and grass for it to stay nice and well growing -Improve the soil and plant some low lying ground cover - a little more maintenance but a nice feature -Pebbles - a little more expensive but the pebbles are neat, fast and a good security measure as you can hear people walking up the side of the house -Mulch - just make sure it is bug free and your termite inspections keep up to date -Pave or brick between the concrete - be sure they add to your current colour scheme. I wouldn’t suggest the red brick shown in the picture for your house. -Otherwise you could tear it all up and put a full width concrete driveway - not as cheep but tidy and no maintenance. I hope that helps with some ideas as I procrastinate about my own garden design ideas