I really appreciate any ideas. We are zone 10.

If you'll be doing the work yourself, the easy way to get rid of existing shrubs is cut them flush with grade (can use a 10" sharp folding pruning saw) and paint the cut root ends with undiluted, concentrated herbicide. This will prevent their regrowth. You can leave the roots in place and carve out planting space around them.

It looks like the main thing you need is groundcover. Asiatic Jasmine would work if there is shade. Tradescantia spathacea makes a nice looking, low maintenance groundcover for sun or shade. If you can find a stock source, it's easy to split up and cover a lot of ground cheaply. If you want a "hedge" around the bay window you might consider a double or triple row of Liriope (or similar) for no height trimming at all.

A bed of smaller bromeliads with some larger specimen accents could be very beautiful. I find it useful to keep them in the pots, partially buried and surrounded by mulch or large chunks of lava stone.

It's easy to get carried away...

Note: My original photos are much brighter. The latest version of Photobucket seems to have drained the color from my photos. Sorry.

Vresias, cryptanthus, guzmanias- they all have their place. Just research what light each needs and purchase the correct species and varieties for your conditions.

I had lots of Bromie patches when I lived in Broward.
Most came from Tropicana's "From the Loading Dock" section or local plant shows where I could buy in bulk on the cheap.
I've included a link to Tropiflora- they are in Sarasota and I am sure they come to a plant show near you a couple of times a year.

More beauties:

Here is an enormous Neo grown in full sun and 48" across- don't need too many of them to fill a space!

One of the best things I ever did was join my local Bromeliad Society Club. It has helped me grow my collection on a shoestring budget while meeting great people and learning more about the wonderful world of bromeliads.

Ruellia is great but don't get the standard species as it is invasive. 'Purple Showers' is sterile so is a better choice. It's sold here but usually without the name being labelled so it's difficult to tell that you're getting the good option. You might need to live with a sample for a short while to see if it produces seed.

I understand the desire to incorporate color into the plan, but Croton never impresses me as a great looking solution. Hopefully, you will use it sparingly. Color will be more meaningful if it is concentrated judiciously. Only some color needs to be incorporated.

I would definitely NOT cover the white rock mulch with any other type mulch. I would remove the white rocks and replace with a wood-based mulch. 2nd choice would be to leave it as it is (with whatever you wish planted in it.) But don't mix rocks and wood-based mulch. It would be a mess.

You mentioned that you're doing this on a tight budget. A single 'Purple Showers' Ruellia can be turned into the start of a 25' (or more) hedge in one season. It's easy to root cuttings of it using rooting powder. (A bright, shady, hidden area of the yard works well as a little "nursery.") If you space cuttings at 15", it only takes 20 of them to create 25' of hedge. Of course they're small (only 12" ht. after a couple of months) but next year ... it's a hedge. Unless I'm in a big hurry or the plant is slow growing I rarely buy multiple plants for myself. I buy one and make many plants from it. Another example, one gallon of Spathacea tradescantia can be immediately split into its individual plantlets and produces more than one dozen. A short time later, what was a single gallon plant can cover a dozen square feet.