Hi Richard
I think you need to be a bit more specific, in terms of what 'extending' means to you - make it bigger, or appear bigger, or soften it into an oasis with multiple interesting spaces, or ...? Also what are you allowed to/capable of doing. Is that building in the back something you can remove, or build a deck/garden on top of it? Or is that the neighbours garage? (even then, I wouldn't rule out doing a deal with them). Also, which way does the garden face? Managing solar gain (protect in summer, suck it in in winter) could be valuable for both the space and even your house. And there's a hint of the multilevel in some of the pictures but it would be nice to see what is happening on each level. It might be good to tie the levels together visually so that you have the view of 3 levels, even if each of them are separate you add them together in your mind.

Just visually, it looks gorgeous, typical Sydney semi-tropical, but for me some of the plants reach too far into the space, and might be a bit too big in scale. It depends on what you expect them to do though (privacy, shading, colour, ...?). I also find the railing a little obtrusive/obstructive. A (semi/fully) glass one would disappear and open it all up, but might not suit the house/garden. A cable-stayed railing might work better, or even just finer timber verticals, or even just painting it a better colour might help diminish its impact.

Anyway, just some thoughts :-)

Hi and appreciate your feedback. I should of been much more specific.

That building in the back of the photo is my double garage which drops down to street level.

I am tossing between converting the existing double garage rooftop space into a decked area or possibly something else. I am just gathering some ideas... I have attached another photo which gives a better idea on the size of the rooftop I have.

yes, deck the roof, with a bridge from the house to it. then i wopuld continue the downstairs tropical oasis theme, and add a hot tub, and a firepit. nice and private downstairs, big and open upstairs.

Hi Richard
The first thing to check then is what the rules are about putting anything on that roof. A deck there will have limits to avoid overlooking, and multi-story, issues with the neighbours (I have first-hand experience of these rules :-) ), which will establish a boundary of how far you can go. Then there is the fundamental structural question of what you can put on there. Then there's the question of what you can afford...

For me, a simple and cheap option would be to put some tall plants/planter boxes toward the far edges of the roof, tiering to lower plants at the front. I'd take away the plants in front of the stairs at the garage, and have smaller/narrower plants up against that garage window wall to hide it, and also away from the side steps from your upper level. That makes the roof part of the garden view, and maximises the terrace area (remove encroaching plants), and hints at 'more' around the corner, down the steps.

With a bit more money and appropriate permission, a deck on the roof gives you another whole space to play with. You'd have to work out where the best access to that roof deck would rise from, without losing too much of your current paved area. Connie's idea for a bridge could work well, but would seem to interfere with the access to the current paved area?

With a lot more money, permission and some engineering, I'd be really tempted to build a deck on that roof and extend it full width right back to the house, at the same level as your door/windows! That way you bury the garage (and small terrace) under a much larger area, giving you heaps of options for creating spaces. You can use the old terrace then for storage (e.g. gardening materials always take up space, and more garden = more materials; compost heaps, worms, bikes, ...). Even if you can't take the deck all the way to the front/side of the garage, you can still create a whole new area there. And you can surround it with plants even if you can't build to the edges.

I love spending other people's money :-)

Thanks a lot for the feedback. I really appreciate it. Lots to think about! I might kick things off with consulting an engineer to get an understanding of my options structurally.