Second Picture, with a wider view.

My gut reaction is to let the existing shrubs grow out a little more naturally - everything being meat balled is "tidy", but not a terribly appealing look.

A little foreground layer of low plants would reinforce some infill plantings in the island and along the walk - a little more interesting than bouncing from ball to ball. Try some annuals to get a bit of a new look and to see what you might like in the way of color. A foreground border of alyssum or Sweet William. An infill mix of annuals and perennials - dianthus or pansies or African daisys or petunias; a clump of sedum, balloon flowers or a spikey leafed clump of Siberian Iris. With the house being grey, your color palette isn't limited.

I'm a simple, practical gardener now; I don't go for Versailles when the garden centers offer such a variety.

Thank you so much!! So helpful.

If the shrubs were rectangular instead of spherical, it would remind me of a cemetery with a scatting of tombstones. The shrubs are all individuals not working together. And there are so many of them! Those below the windows would work much better grown together as hedges (though they look spaced a bit far for this purpose.) I'm not a fan of shrub-confined walkways, so I'd get rid of those separating the walk from the lawn.

The house looks a bit like a raisin in the sun ... no shade ... no look of plants "protecting" it anywhere. Small flowering trees of some type -- especially at the ends of the house -- could do a lot to take away the new subdivision look that still exists in the yard.

Some suggestions in pictorial form. You'll need to convert to a plan (showing how everything is laid out from an overhead view ... to scale.) Get recommendation on plants from local sources or regional forum. Look around and see what grows locally that would make these forms and appeals to you.

Thank you so much for the picture...very helpful & pretty. Do recommend us replanting trees lining the driveway?

That depends on how done and what. If they're not too large of trees but still limbed up so as not to become obstructionist to the view beyond, I don't see why not. (I'm talking about the goal ... not how they are in the beginning.)

Thank you..Nothing too large & something that is green (not really a fan of white pear trees lining the driveway) We are not sure what tree is best. But we need something with deep narrow roots. It was one of the things that drew me to the home, it was so welcoming!

I was thinking of something like this??

And here is what our driveway looked like before Hurricane Sandy.