Keep in mind that Sugar Maples grow to be very large trees, and eventually you will not be able to grow anything under them but a bit of shade-tolerant groundcover. Ditto the White Pines. There are a lot of trees that would be more suitable for your small property. It's hard to tell from the photos, but if you consider the mature size of the shrubs that are there now, will they eventually fill the space they're in? New plantings always look sparse, no way around it, but you have to allow space for the plants to grow. I agree that planting in a straight line is not the most attractive, and Lilac and Weigela are both plants that look less than stunning when they are not in bloom. Lilacs are nondescript and prone to powdery mildew, and the Weigela looks like heck when the leaves drop. Maybe the previous owner used them because they were inexpensive and readily available. Unless you are looking for a very tall screen and really need trees, evergreen shrubs or dwarf trees that reach 8-12 feet tall or so should provide you with plenty of privacy without blocking out the sun and sky. The closer you are sitting to a 30 ft. (even taller in the case of the pines) screen, the more it will block out the world. Be sure this is what you want before selecting really large plants for a 30 ft. deep space. I would make a scale drawing of the back yard and plot the locations of the existing shrubs on it exactly. Research mature sizes, and use appropriately sized circles to represent them (1 inch equals 10 ft. is easy to work with). Then think about where you need to add (or subtract) things to get the effect you want and screening where you feel it's most needed. Get some shrub books out of the library and visit local nurseries to see what's available in your area. Bring a pad and take notes on the sizes and characteristics of plants that interest you. Arborvitae might work as evergreens and to add height, but don't use them singly, plant in slightly triangular shaped patterns in groups of three or five. This will prevent them from looking like exclamation points. Or worse. In your informal setting, I'd rather see something like Chamaecyparis (Hinoki Falsecypress). The branching pattern is more graceful and less stiff-looking that Arborvitae, just make sure it's a cultivar that doesn't get too big. There are a lot of dwarf evergreens available that can be used to fill in your existing planting, and as someone else mentioned, you can remove some of the Weigela and Lilacs later on if you want to. Adrian Bloom's book on gardening with conifers is a great place to start for inspiration. There are a lot of other books available that include planting plans with the photos, so you can see what was actually done. Studying these will show you what the possibilities are, so that when you do make your choices, you won't be guessing what it will look like a few years down the road.

C'mon, mad - really? First, I don't understand why you haven't shown your plant(s) that you are unhappy with - which you might very well not have the correct identity for. Second, I can't believe that you will base your entire opinion of a species on one image posted here - which simply illustrated an extreme condition tolerated by this species. Since I don't have the benefit of quizzing you in person, I'll will state lots of refutations to your objections to the value of this species as a perfectly good plant for zone 6 limestone soil conditions - here or in upstate NY. The viburnums in the pic above were sheared repeatedly during the growing season, since the horse farm wanted to contain them within the fenceline and/or some obscene orthogonal obsession. This meant that the plants continually were pushing new growth quite late in the season - which is what you see, and of course it is brown in January since that foliage had no opportunity to harden off. I'm certain that wherever you happen to garden in eastern NY that there are plenty of Viburnum ÃÂrhytidophylloides selections scratching out an existence through thick and thin of upstate winters. 'Alleghany' is the industry standard, but 'Willowwood' is a fine choice as well - and the one I'd prefer to grow. Take a gander at collections at Ithaca (Cornell Plantations) or Rochester (Durand-Eastman Park), or maybe any other nifty sites you might be able to suggest. I'll take your skepticism, and pitch it off into the bushes... Here is a link that might be useful: Cornell's viburnum collection

Both the forsythia you have and ninebark are large fountaining shrubs that will give good privacy if left unpruned. You can take cuttings of your current forsythia if you want to start additional plants. I have a Coppertina ninebark that I like a lot: gold new foliage, reddish older foliage, and pinkish-white flowers. Both these are deciduous but are twiggy enough to give some privacy even without leaves, and the birds like thm for nest building. Some of the smaller arborvitae would be good if you don't have deer. Sunkist and Techny are two that I grow that are tall enough for privacy, but short enough to remain unpruned. Arbotvitae are evergreens. All these will be fully hardy in your area and are fine in part shade and clay soil. My personal preference is for mixed shrub borders rather than a straight line hedge of all one kind since I like the variety of foliage and bloom times.

Yes we are putting in undercabinet lighing but the bottom of the cabinet is recessed so doesn't impact the tile except for the light it casts off. I was thinking about doint the accents every 3rd or 4th just to have bigger and fewer spots of accent tile. My big challenge now will be to find a good tile person at the lake. The tile shop here in the city certainly won't know anyone 210 miles away so I have some sleuthing to do. As far as laying the tile like les suggested in straight rows...it would work and I like the look of the accent in a row, but the big problem is layout with the outlets. If I run the accent line under the outlets there isn't room for one subway below it so that would start the pattern off in an odd way. It I run it above the outlets I think it is too high and doesn't have the right connection wiht the granite. That is one reason why a staggered approach appeals to me.