Hi amaliar, still a bit hard to work out even with the plan and your pictures, but I would reverse the areas, make the current sitting area, near the fireplace, the dining room and make the dining room the sitting area. In the dining room run the table across and exactly centred in front of the fireplace, not the skinny end of the table in front. This would give the dining table the slightly elevated display look which would look lovely when your table is fully set, with candles and or flowers. You could back the L shaped lounge up against and along the outside wall which adjoins the deck, I would have the L section slightly extend across the other room which would be actually behind the lounge/couch, this room on the plan is at the end of the deck, this would allow you to put one or two leather chairs and a small sidetable or lamp table to create a seperate reading area in that back area, it would also allow you to place a tall lamp behind and/or a standard cantilevered lamp over the L shaped lounge, which would look nice (example photos below). By running the lounge this way it would not have it's back to the dining room, it would make the entertaining space open so that some guests could utilise some of the dining chairs by turning them around and face other guests who may be sitting on the lounge, with a lovely big rich rug in front of the lounge/couch. It would also allow good flow for walking through the rooms, would make the rooms look larger and not cut off. Good luck.

It really depends on the style of pool you are after. No.5 is a great look for a formal pool with full width steps leading in. This can be a stunning look when connected to an alresco or formal outdoor dining area, like this (by Natural Pools): Or even this one: The steps then become multi level seating for all ages. Children can sit on the top step, while adults can sit lower down and rest their elbows back on the higher step. This can be annoying, however, if you want to be swimming laps (short laps in a 9.0m pool) and would prefer to touch to the wall. Another detail to keep in mind is the exposed points on your steps. For a tiled pool, these can be quite sharp and a higher potential for scraped feet or legs. No. 4 has three exposed points, No.1 has one and No.5 does not have any. So if you didn't want the full width steps, I would go for No.1. It has a clean line of a continuous ledge across the pool and then the one step below that for access. All the best with your project!

making a mould and pouring the concrete would be your best bet in getting the look you are after, you can buy the smaller ones but I think the large one you may have to do yourself or have made, lots of info on making them on Pinterest.

These tips are so simple and easy to implement, we'll definitely be using them to add that personal touch - Rhiannon