I was in a modernist house where this was handled a bit less obviously than the cornice board, and the set up was literally regular sockets that were arranged to provide fairly even light and not be visible in the room unless you went over to the wall and looked up and back, with your face almost against the wall. The restrooms in my one work place (a midcentury office midrise) has the same type of thing and it actually provides a nice even light. They will probably allow some kind of low voltage candelabra bulbs to remain on the market, but these are not used so much for bright general lighting...

You may want to post this question on the home decorating forum. There are lots of colour experts on that forum that answer this type of question frequently. I am not sure double hung windows will suit the style of this home. Would you consider painting the brick? I also think the windows over the garage need to be enlarged. Carol

I might start with a survey so you are sure where the property line lies as adding or removing plants/fencing on others' property can be a nightmare, or perhaps your city/town has someone who will come out and mark the actual bounds. In the meantime, you can get a screen capture of your property from google maps as a base to start planning or a property plan from your municipality. Either will give you an overview so you can start working on a plan, and the plot plan should have actual measurements. The property plan from your city may be available on line or in person, depending, and should have measurements so you can figure out space uses realistically, especially if you copy it onto quarter inch graph paper. I'd suggest spending this year mostly assessing what is there: establishing where the property line actually is, looking at what already exists in the yard as the season progresses, watching how your dog moves around the yard (if s/he patrols the fence line, you don't want a garden space there or you want a way to restrict his movement) and finding yard arrangements, gardens, and plants you like by looking at yards you pass, getting books from the library, and looking at . Think about what you and your significant other want in the yard - play area for kids, a veggie garden, a shady nook, a place to store the trash cans or the lawnmower, flowers, an area for sports, seating for entertaining, a fire pit, privacy from the neighbors, etc, etc. A basic book on landscaping can add other factors to consider. It is a lot easier to set up a plan that you can put into place as energy and funds allows than to have to redo a lot later, even if it means living with it pretty much as is for a year, and you may find that there are factors that influence how you end up using the yard. For instance, you may find that the insects are so bad in the evening that without a screened space you can't be outside. There may be some perennials that you aren't aware of or some of the twigs along the fence may turn out to be ornamental shrubs or vines that you like, and this will reduce your cost if they can be reused in your design. Perhaps some large pots of flowers will help you get through this year. It sounds like there are a couple of basics that you want to do right away such as the seeding of bare spots in the lawn and putting in a barrier to keep the gravel from straying into the grass. I'd not worry about the shape for now - just rake it into a straight line, install edging deep enough so it won't block drainage, and call it good for this year. Neatness and a green lawn will go a long way towards making things look better. If walking across the gravel to get to the lawn is a major hassle, then get a set of 24" square patio blocks to set slightly into the gravel to make a walkway. If your other half wants a veggie garden, that is fairly easy to set up in a temporary fashion since the plants will die back annually, but otherwise, resist until you have a plan in place, including dealing with any drainage issues in the gravel area.

Not really answering your question but if there are trees you will need to constantly remove fallen leaves to keep a moss garden growing. It's not going to be low maintenance. So not really 'a nice clean ground cover' without a lot of work.