Not sure where you're located, but a gravel driveway may help to soften the house versus asphalt or concrete. Soften up the area with grasses. Here's a link to a photo of grasses with a hot color palette http://www.spacemakerpress.com/catalogue/catimages/st05imgb.jpg You can always choose a more muted color palette as well. I would definitely tier the plan heights so they're taller against the house and gradually get lower. It would help to bring the house to human scale and not appear towering above. The pathway could be in a natural stone - the same color as the gravel driveway (if you can do gravel).

You must be in a tropical zone - I see palm trees .What zone are you in ? How long do you plan to live in this house and are you married to the grass ? How long and wide is the garden ? Can you make a shot from the fence toward the house ( house in center ) ?

An outdoor room is like any other room. First decide what you want to use it for. For example, my back yard has a couple of rooms. The "dining room" is a table and 4 chairs under an inexpensive ($150) 12 ' X 12' Home Depot gazebo . The gazebo gives a pleasant feeling of enclosure and privacy when we sit at the table, and it also keeps the table clean and dry. We have a big hydrangea shrub right at the edge of this area to mark its edge. It's pleasant to sit so close to something blooming. The "living room" is 2 comfortable chairs and a love seat around a coffee table. We entertain there and pull the dining room chairs over if there are more than 4 of us. We also sit there to read in the evening. There's a smallish tree right beside it so it's pleasantly shady. The "kitchen" is the grill and a small table to set things on, and is closest to the kitchen door. Once you have decided how you want to use the space, you'll need to decide whether you want a new "floor". We have a low L-shaped deck that has the three rooms. Or you may decide on a concrete or slab patio for all or part of it. Farther from the house is some grass, and then more big shrubs (evergreen and blooming - little maintenance). And a little raspberry patch because it's fun to eat them right from the bush. The landscaping really comes last, once you have decided on the functions of the area. Don't start planting without a room plan. You may want, for example, to put one of your rooms right against the fence or wall, and if you've already planted shrubs or made beds then they will be in the way. You want to plant trees and larger shrubs so they are useful as the walls and roof of your rooms. Be sure to check the mature size of your plantings (it's on the tags) so you don't end up with branches hanging over your roof or over your neighbor's property. Don't make the mistake of putting in so many beds or plantings that you don't have time to sit and enjoy. A few low-maintenance shrubs that are planted close to where you sit are just as enjoyable as big swaths of flower beds that need weeding, annual bedding plants and maintenance (unless gardening is a hobby that you enjoy spending time at.) Enjoy your new home!

You want very easy care so you won't have to be weeding, pruning, watering and feeding because it is hard work on a steep bank like that. Along the bottom edge, I'd plant a few soft, smaller plants that won't require trimming back and are OK to brush against. Many natives are great for tolerating poor soil and not needing to be nurtured or fussed over. Clumps of hardy grasses - enough of each to make an impact, say groups of 5-7 minimum. Perhaps red tussocks (Chionocloa rubra) for their bronze tints, and Silver tussock (Carex comans) for their graceful light green fronds, and Chionochloa conspicua, which is very pretty in flower, (like a miniature toetoe.) Mix in NZ iris like Libertia perigrinans for its bright orange spear like leaves and it will tolerate clay well. Marlborough rock daisy if it is a dry area. A little further back put in that lavender, smaller hebes for flower and scent, and possibly some of the many miniature flaxes which come in a range of colours. There are a few spreading prostrate coprosmas that are great in areas like this too. If you don't like the bronze rambler but it is growing well, think of it as the background to set off something that you like, so perhaps a spiky silvery plant like an astelia will contrast with it and be a feature, or a little bright green hebe, with white flowers would contrast nicely. Behind those, put the feijoas, full size flaxes, corokias, the larger hebes, pittosporums, and coprosmas.