Ginny, I do custom printing, but I'm not the least expensive lab if that's what you're looking for. I do quality over quantity! And I don't stretch them, but ship rolled in heavy duty tubes. That keeps the shipping costs down, and the damage factor down! Here's the info: http://www.johnmaclean.com/data/web/9900_inkjet_pricing_CANVAS.pdf https://www.facebook.com/JohnMacLeanPhotoPrinting Please let me know if I can be of service! ;)

The charring of wood as a method of preservation is nothing new and was known to European and Mediterranean builders as well as Asians. I have for years charred the bases of deck posts and such as a rot preventative. The practice is mentioned in John Fitchen's classic book Building Construction Before Mechanization. Some of the samples of this shown above are a bit crude. The most beautiful finishes of this type are rather labor intensive as some of the char can be brushed back off to some extent to reveal wood grain. The planter shown below has been coated on the interior with linseed oil, blackjack and turpentine and then set alight with a roofer's torch. The finish is cooked into the wood producing a carbonized insect and decay resistant surface. It gets filled with soil and so the char will be seen only at the edges.

Thanks everyone for your further comments. No problem about it being an old post, always nice to communicate with people about design solutions/problems. Jilly, I posted some photos on 1st January 2016, they appear further up in the post. Garden Beet Pty Ltd, and Morel Construction Ltd, both of your solutions look great, but our problem still remains the western Queensland sun which is pretty vicious on anything that will either wilt, fade or break down. It was quite a difficult challenge to come up with something that was affordable, workable and durable. I would love to have had plants because I believe they soften large "hard" exterior areas, but we have decided that we will do that with pots around the pool area. Still have that to do, even after all this time. :) Thanks everyone for re-igniting this chat. Jilly, hope you find something that works for you.

Hello everyone! It's been a while. Thank you all for the overwhelming response. Just thought I'd better update you all on changes I've made. And yes, got rid of those horrible lamps (what was I ever thinking when I bought them???). So I know the new lamps aren't still tall enough but they were all I could afford. I think they look nice. Wrt the artwork, decided to hang up a triptych of my eldest daughter artwork which I love. Now I know what you will all say: "those frames are way too small". So my next little project is to find larger frames for the artwork. On the left corner I usually have a mother-in-laws tongue plant but I had it outside when I took the photo.