Front Garden Reconstruction

This past weekend we finally got to work on the front garden. We were able to strip it down...literally, there are only 2 plants left. Aaron dug out the 3 holly and the 2 large and 3 small evergreens that were half dead and looking nasty. My Aunt came over and watched baby Owen for us while we stripped it down. It only took a few hours and we also were able to clean up the small garden at the end of the driveway. Next step with the front flower garden is to purchase new plants and create a whole new look of the front of our home. We want to raise the garden as well as make it a bit bigger and change the shape a bit. We hope to get a sort of Contemporary look. I want the garden to look clean and kept but keep a natural feel and relatively low maintenance. I may go with some yews, dogwoods or spireas for against the house and them some ground cover and hostas upfront. I will also add annuals each year in the spring to add some colour. So that is some of my current ideas but we shall see what I end up doing.
So here we have all our old plants, our empty front garden and our small front garden.