Redoing the Side Yard

While I was gone, my husband gave himself a project, and set about to cutting down quite a few limbs and branches from the surrounding pine trees all around our house. Now we have finally gotten around to cutting most of them up for fire wood for both the wood furnace in the cellar and the soon to be fire pit in our back yard. While he was working on that,  I started clearing a path up the slope by the house, made some little dirt stairs and started to clean out some of the dead brush all over the area.  Now I'm stuck with what to do with it.  It's mostly shade, so I guess shade loving plants (duh) but not sure where to put them or how to "scape" it.  Then there is the yard which is screaming for something to spruce it up, but what???  Any feedback is welcome!!!

Thanks!!