Love the challenge - for a small, winter interest tree consider the coral bark maple with bark that will really \"pop\" in a dull winter landscape. You can keep this maple at around 15 feet tall just by pruning off the tallest branches at the base or trunk every few years. It is one of the few maples that responds well to a little haircut - if you prune in the spring not the fall. If the area is not too hot the variegated Pieris japonica varigata or \"Flame\" Pieris is an evergreen shrub with winter interest that is always well-behaved and evergreen - also a great companion for the coral bark when the new peach foliage emerges in the spring. The twisted form of the Contorted Filbert is also a most interesting winter character and then in early spring the catkins on this tree/shrub attracts lots of wild life - just be sure to remove any suckers that arise from the base of the plant. Add some organic matter to your soil and enjoy hellebores for splashes of winter blooms. Finally you can go with a modern, geometric look by arranging three tall and skinny \"Rocket\" barberry or three evergreen Ilex Sky Pencil in a triangle pattern in the space. Plant low growing color such as snow drop bulbs and crocus at the base of these dramatic shrubs and you'll have plenty of winter interest. Let us now how it turns out and Keep Growing, Marianne Binetti