Congrats on the new house. I've been in mine nearly 5 years and have yet to stop working on in or around it.

I have no idea about your climate, soil, or the amount of sun you get so I can only give you some of the thoughts I had when I started mine.

I knew I would be in my house more than 5 years which is enough time for most small plants to fill in. When I started looking for plants I spoke with people at garden shops and nurseries about what did well in my area (cold winters as low as -31C / -25F, hot summers as high as 38C / 100F, with little time in between cold winter temperatures and hot summer weather). Added to this I looked at my neighbor's yards to see what they had growing and what was doing well.

When I went out and bought the plants I bought mostly perennials as I want to spend my garden time getting tasty things to eat.

I also bought small container plants. The thinking is small plants cost a lot less and are more likely to grow into strong plants than if you were to shock a larger plant with transplanting it. A smaller plant also, usually, has a higher ratio of root mass to foliage than if you bought a big looking plant in a container you're still able to move without a tractor. For instance 3 years ago I planted a young peach tree which didn't even extend past my knee. It should flower and fruit this spring and is now pushing 3 meters tall. I bought this tree for less than $5. If I were to buy the tree it is now it would run me well over $250.

I also went with larger plants than a sea of small flowers. For me it is easier to prune a shrub or tree once to twice a year than maintain flowers.

For my area in the midwest United States I went with things like a flowering apple tree, peach tree, spirea bush which is covered with lots of tiny white flowers in the spring, dogwood bushes and trees, lilac bush, grape vine as well as perennial flowers like Echinacea and daisies.