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!!

Sorry for the seemingly vague question, we're moving soon and have a blank slate to start from. The carpet will go and most likely be replaced with floorboards, coffee or lighter bamboo floorboards. The first pic if as you enter, and the 2nd is the rest of the living or what will be the formal lounge. I'd like to keep a neutral palette and then accessorize in colors. I can't say I love the staircase much, almost feel like painting the wood..but what I'm looking for I suppose is where /what kind of lounge styles would suit this space. I'll post some additional photos of styles I like. Any help or ideas will be much appreciated:)

I really like the idea of concealing the screen. TV's, when off, leave a black hole in the wall to me. I don't watch or own a TV though, so I guess they'll always stand out to me. I also like how concealing a TV "repurposes" the space. It's no longer the focus of seating arrangements. I really like the sliding art panel and wouldn't it be great if it automatically slides over once the TV is switched off!

Daniel, can imagine you don't deal with a lot of fire places in QLD but South of that we do. It's like any beautiful old building we need to respect and conserve what is already there, a new addition can allow for more sleek and modern design. I had been very fortunate to own a beautiful federation house which was simply white inside with polished floor boards, fire places mostly timber, when we sold the new owners striped all beautiful arch ways and all exterior Fret work. I have recently seen an Architect show his work on this forum where the Bull Nose verandah's and metal posts were removed "they weren't original", even though they would have been a 100 yrs, and were replaced with more modern square posts. Look at what is happening on the North Shore Pacific Highway, the past government (Labor) has approved multi story apartment blocks along this highway destroying beautiful heritage houses and gardens to do this and losing any historic charm a big lose for Sydney and Australia , and while not doing anything to update ANY transport to support .this Conserve what we have as is done in other countries for future generations cheers