You must have quite a wide frontage to build this design so I would suggest the facades and garage door to have a striking contemporary colour to really stand out. I don't think it would look too busy at all because of the wide frontage you must have on your block of land. My only suggestion would be to work with your architect to change the facades a little more to differentiate the two. In my experience, the value of duplexes where the facades are differentiated to make it looks more like two homes increases. Also out of curiosity how many bedrooms has the architect included in the design?

Hi all, Wow - hard to believe it was 7 months ago I posted this! We are getting there, but now having window dilemma. We decided to retain brick and use cladding for extensions. A few questions: 1. should existing windows in brick part of house (which are like a cottage window) be retained or replaced to match new ones? any advice regarding new bedroom windows - currently louvres - air flow appeals but does it look odd? 2. Opinions on the rear doors - we want this dining area to open as much as possible in summer. The current solution is to have 2 sliding doors on each side, and bi-folds across the rear, with corner glass in both corners - any opinions? 3. Rear paved area - we currently have odd shaped concrete at rear (the grey shaded area). Architect has suggested paving to fill in what is currently grass and make a better square line - but, is it just going to be too much paving?? Would love to hear your thoughts. thanks in advance!

I hate painting or rendering brick . But those columns make me shudder ! So a relatively budget option would be to paint the columns , or render them , in an English Cream or even a white . NOT Gray . It is trendy , it is industrial , it doesn't suit the brown , in fact it doesn't suit the house . I'd follow through with the gutters in a white or sandstone too . The 'front' would look lighter , the columns are technically then a feature , it would have a slight bit of character . I'd get 2 or 3 big 1 metre by 1 metre black/charcoal tiles , and set into the stones , leading out from the terrace by the door . Add a couple of big , bright glazed pots , with a variety of plants . Tile the whole terrace in the same tone black/charcoal tiles , but 250 x 250 or 300 x 300 . The terrace tiling is 'optional' , or could be done later , but lighten the columns and gutters , and it will take some of the chocolate sameness away . Then , as everyone says -- landscape . Turn the carport into a bedroom ( personally , I wonder how you will insulate/do a ceiling/seal the walls to the roof/work walls around upright poles/remove bricks/add a door/add an ensuite plumbing/etc , but worth asking about ) .

If you are worried about invasive roots you might want to get rid of the magnolia in your front lawn. These little gem magnolia's might be dwarves for their genus but their genus is a massive tree way too large for a suburban yard at maturity. A lot of people don't realise how large they will get because they are slow growing. The tropical garden look is all about large sized leaves and vivid colour. So a mix of coloured leaf plants and greenery with over sized leaves works best. A rhapis palm is a good screening palm as well as having architectural appeal since it's globular in shape. Looks best in a feature pot and one each side of your portico would look great. For hedging I can't urge you NOT to use bamboo enough. I purchased a house where a bamboo has been hedged on 2 sides. I hate it for these reasons. The particular variety I have cannot be clipped to keep it at a specific height. The entire thing keeps growing skyward until it set seeds and then dies back. Giving me a hedge that looks okay for around 6 months of the year and looks like dead grass for the other 6 months. Clumping bamboos are NOT non invasive. They will take over your yard. They just do it by the clumps getting larger over time and spreading outwards in concentric fashion instead of sending out runners linearly. They are high maintenance if you want them to look lush. You have to get into the clump and constantly cut out the dying culms otherwise you get a yellowed and dead looking section in your hedge. They are extremely messy constantly dropping leaves. I've tried mulching the continual fall but the leaves actually clog a mulcher and can't be recycled easily. Getting rid of a clump is nigh on impossible once established. I tried digging one of mine out. The rhizomes are like concrete and cannot be easily broken up with any kind of tool. I would need to hire a bobcat and dig them out to get rid of them. They have to actually be tied up into clumps with string, otherwise they fall over and look like weeds. The rhapis palm above is very bamboo like but unlike bamboo it isn't a grass so it will grow perennially without the massive die off of bamboo for many years to come. Most people don't realise that because bamboo is a grass it's lifecycle is very short. Each culm will live only 1-2yrs then die. The clump renews itself by sending up new shoots which results in an ever increasing clump size and a lot of dead poles in the clump. Bamboo is wonderful stuff in a plantation where the culms are continually harvested and clumps thinned out. They are a massive amount of work in a garden though.