I agree with WeeNel, especially about taking it in steps. First, you will make choices that don't work out like you want, but will only discover this with time, so taking steps allows you to minimize this by re-evaluating as you go. Second, you're plans will evolve as you gain knowledge of your combination of soil & light conditions, and actually seeing a wider range of possible solutions. You're almost guaranteed to come across something a year from now that you'd love in your landscape, and if you are going in steps, you'll be more flexible in being able to incorporate it. You won't know the possibilities until you discover them, and part of the fun that hooks you into moving past the beginner stage is the learning as you go.
One suggestion that might give you a temporary and not very expensive partial solution that will allow you to take your time to develop your landscape, and the inevitable time it takes for your landscape to mature enough to provide the privacy, is to use bamboo, willow, or other screen fencing against your chain link fence. It softens the look of the chain link fence, provides greater sense of privacy, and adds instant natural color to your landscape pallet. This type of fencing is available from garden centers and numerous catalogs, in different lengths and heights. You can attach it right to the chain link fence with wire in no time.
Another suggestion, if you decide to take things a step at a time, is to begin sheet mulching. As you plan a future bed (& I second the use of a garden hose to lay out beds), sheet mulching will greatly reduce the labor (or unnecessary use of problematic herbicides) to turn lawn into a garden bed. You can use newspaper, cardboard (avoid the kind of cardboard used for cereal boxes, as the glue is a problem, and remove all plastic tape from cardboard), or biofilm. The later looks and handles like a thin black plastic film, but it is made from corn and completely biodegrades (it starts in a couple months, and takes a few more months). Our local nursery carries it, but I've also ordered it from an organic garden/farm supply company, along with bio-stakes (which are also corn-based and biodegrade, although take longer) to hold it down. For newspaper, use at least 6-12 pages right on top of the lawn, and wet it down. With all of these, you can then cover this with a layer of cedar mulch. In several months, the lawn underneath will have rotted and begun to turn into compost to feed your soil, and you just dig through and plant your plants. No digging up turf.
As you look for plants, you should be able to find a number of good sources of info as to what does well in your area. Besides garden web sites like this, you should track down any local garden groups and your county extension office. They will have learned by experience what does well and what doesn't. Another tip is to learn what plants are native to your area, as these are pretty much guaranteed to do well if you keep sun and soil conditions in mind. They will also be most likely to withstand local pests, not be invasive, and to nurture local wildlife who have co-evolved with these species of plants. See if you have a local native plant group. You can also look at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center's web site and database. There are a number of other web and book resources, one of which is the author Sally Wasowsky, who writes on native landscaping, is from Texas, and I believe has a book specifically geared to native plant landscaping in Texas in addition to a more general native prairie landscaping book.
Best of luck, and welcome.
Dave
