Hi, Barbara! Hello, my friends in the Houzz! I got caught in the whirlwind of construction works and a wedding and family homecoming that went with it! Now, I am happy to be back supervising the works. I made additions to the house, mainly at the back, making outdoor living and relaxation as a feature with the grill and outdoor seating and mobile Kitchen all added around the small bath area. Security here in this country is a big consideration, which leaves me with not much choice but to build high and strong fences and gates. My challenge is how to allow for a view of those cornfields and meadows just behind the house, providing a natural awesome backdrop to the 450sqm small property. It may not disappoint you too much to know that I went for the cut stone cladding for the four tall gate posts in front, a copy from the cladding on the posts of the front veranda, only, they are 2.2meters high. There will be two wide gates that will allow entry and exit of suv's on a half roundabout. The whole stretch of the front fence and gates shall be 2.2m vertical iron rods all lined up in a picket. This should allow the least obstructed view of the property from the narrow road. I shall send you more photos of our finished product :). In the meantime, this is how I have fared... Blessings to you, all!!

@karenleonn...it is cosy! When I bought it... it was an abandoned wreck with good bones on 1600m2 with a creek boundary. Could not believe it had been sitting there neglected fir 5 years and that nobody had had a brain explosion as to what it could be. My furnishings are not so traditional and lovely....(and Oh, aren;t those "William Morris" (?) upholstered chairs and matching cushions lovely !!!? Mine are just "friendly", cosy and...cat and dog friendly...and of course people are welcome too, if they don't mind my domestic buddies. The best part of a house like this is that everyrhing looks good in it, there's no particular style, does not have to be trendy to be acceptable to the critical eye and if the old retro appliances work that's all one needs. Add a couple of log combustion fires and a bushy garden around it and...YAY..Home Sweet Home full of curiosities and no worries about...."dropping paint on this" or...leaving a bit of disarray, as long as its clean and safe its heaven.

Am using these concepts for playspace in a Java playgroup, kindergarten & primary school. Key to success is linking & embedding into curriculum so learning is both inside & outside. Also have complementary kitchen garden for learning....and field for growing. Children are loving it.

There is a difference between 'is it safe' and 'is it compliant'. Nothing is 100% safe, things are only ever 'safe enough' to allow reasonable use. Gas appliances such as your fireplace are required to be tested prior to being sold so that the standards of safety that society expects are maintained. In this case the manufacturer would have had a sample unit installed in a laboratory and tested against the relevant safety standards (the fire burns efficiently enough, it doesn't leak smoke and exhaust into the room and it doesn't make touchable surfaces too hot etc). Once it passes the tests, the manufacturer gets a certificate that says this unit is safe to sell to the Australian public. Now that test certificate corresponds to a particular configuration of the unit and its installation - if the configuration is different, they need a separate test to cover that different configuration. So since your unit does not have a trim frame it would not be identical to the model tested and therefore would not comply - unless of course the manufacturer also tested it without the trim. So this is the question you need to get them to confirm. In all likelihood it is probably 'safe enough' without the trim, but if it is 'non-compliant' you risk an insurance claim being rejected (if say the fireplace caused the TV to fall off the wall somehow lets say). At the end of the day if you leave it without the trim frame, try and get a letter from the manufacturer and the installer stating that your particular configuration complies