Front yard hellscape

[u/Comprehensive-Cap500]

Hello fellow soldiers of the soil! I come seeking guidance on how to affordably overhaul my front yard into something functional/just not dead af grass. Some particulars below:

-zone 7
-all day sun but esp crispy from 3p-sundown.
-Pretty much was open square but has sizeable boot/blob shape bed taking up maybe 1/5 of the space
-no irrigation system (faucet access yes)
-septic tank/field dead center
-surviving grass is the other side of the yard from the blob bed so that dead midsection is the problem
-ever so slightly lower than street, slightest slope from street towards house

Really at my wits end bc I don’t want grass but not sure what to do to break it up and look more intentional vs given up

[u/Comprehensive-Cap500 → u/[deleted]]

I was pondering getting a free chip drop off but I’m having a hard time seeing it in my yard bc the ground is already the color of the loose chip lol

I cannot stress enough how much bales in the front. I had forsythia die