We had a relative stay in our home for one night as she was moving on after, we live at the side of a railway line in a two bed ( everybody starts from somewhere) but we are used to this, a train only takes 30 seconds to pass so don't really notice it, my wife and I left for the day to go to work and left our guest to lock up on leaving, we had cooked the evening meal the night before and left her instructions on where everything was for breakfast. We both thought that all was fine until talking to another relative and found out that she would never stay with us again as she got no sleep due to the trains, walls were so thin she could hear everything inc plumbing noises heating kicking in and so on, and to this day she has not been back!

From here actually - got a lovely large vintage style filament light bulb from Amazon and popped that it. Looks lovely !

Trees, plants, vegetables and wildlife. Luckily I have an enormous garden, which includes a hedgehog, lots of slow-worms, frogs and toads, and under the eaves of the house roof live scores of house sparrows, while the old field hedge to the south provides hospitality for many bumblebees, blackbirds etc - even a wren. Under the lawns hide lovely, silky miner-bees... There are two compost heaps and I spend a lot of time bringing home cuttings and then nursing them into life. Of course the garden is masses of work each year and I am 69, but this is as close to living on planet earth as you can get in today's crazy world. There is no silly internet-of-things in my garden; and apart from sunlight, moonlight and the odd flash of lightning, it only sees the occasional use of a torch or led headlight. I guess some of the worst things that can spoil your garden is a nearby stinking barbecue or neighbours who burn stuff in black polythene bags; (or hire a sound system for their birthday) or the unsustainable racket of a MOD fighter jet or helicopter beating the air! Along with someone to love and care for, a garden is one of the most precious things you can have and enjoy!

I like greenery in a front garden and agree that people just walk over chippings or grass so to preserve your privacy I would have planting. I also agree that the lawn seems like unnecessary maintenance and could be planting. I can't tell but I suspect your lavender is getting a little woody and less pretty than it once was. Perhaps it is time for a change. As an alternate you could have skimmia, huechera, euonymus.... the list goes on.