I would place extremely large boulders to conceal the access to that crop, and stagger randomly placed smaller rocks to gradually lead back toward your paving. Keep the shape and flow natural looking with curves and backfill with river pebble a dug out trench that runs although it like a dried up river bed. This will be useful in wet weather, it will actually help direct the overflow of water that your property must suffer from. Possibly remove your storm water capping and repace with heavy duty steel mesh grate covered with river pebble. The sound of water rushing over the pebble and draining away will provide acoustics of a rainforest or running stream at the least. Use tall plantings to conceal this void space with tall palms or giant birds of paradise, strelitzias will have the look of banana leaves, and smaller strelizias will complement them. Plant densely so that it prevents access for little ones. Then use Clever lighting to focus a green oasis. Your limitation could possibly be an advantage in that the solution has to be unique. You may end up with a stunning water feature and private escape.

Thanks all for the suggestions! White ceiling really makes sense thanks Helen. I would not have thought to do that but as i sat out there over the weekend it makes perfect sense. At this stage I'll stick to repainting the deck as well due to the cost but long term I'll definitely be looking at sanding or replacing the timbers of the deck. With all the dark colours it really does have an oppressive feeling and i almost feel like i need to hunch over as i walk through so lightening up the colour scheme is definitely the way to go. And yes Angela those blind will be going :)

Hey there suneerevo! Some great ideas in this thread. You could potentially turn the side area into a small cricket pitch/play area - include a small sand pit/outline a hopscotch zone. I'm not sure how old your children are, but I agree the area may be too small for basketball (unless it is just shooting practice) or bike riding. You could introduce astro turf (pic below is of the fresh cut turf which you can purchase from Bunnings) and shade sails above, and some fun outdoor furniture to encourage play and also relaxation. Example of some fun furniture perhaps :) The shade sails (examples below) will prevent the synthetic turf from getting too hot, and block out UV rays so your children can play or your guests can relax. You can also purchase these from Bunnings and install them yourself :) Hope this helps! Let us know what you end up deciding on.

Hi Blake, What an exciting time of your life. I would agree that painting the fence charcoal will be a great start. I would create a few zones. You like the idea of a fire pit, so get one of those fabulous metal dishes that can be custom designed such as Yarrawonga Custom Plasma Cutting does. You could put this outside the alfresco area and pave the space around it. PO Box designs do some amazing lazer cut decorative screens and sculptures. You could break up the fence and add more height and privacy by placing a decorative screen on it which can even be backlit to give a lovely atmosphere at night. Just be aware that you shouldn't block the neighbour's light, especially that high window which they wouldn't be able to see you from but will be providing important light for their home. I suggest having an edible garden. You can plant oranges, lemons and limes which are all evergreen, grow to a good height, and have the bonus of divine smelling flowers and fruit that you can use, and under them plant herbs such as rosemary, sage, and thyme. A bay tree is very useful, but they can grow huge so keep it in a pot or prune hard to keep it to a workable shape. You can use the leaves fresh or dried so cut away and give the prunings to friends! In a shady spot that you are happy to have anything grow, you could plant mint. It will spread but I use it by the arm full in summer in my drinking water, in salads and in fact most summer dishes, and even as fresh mint tea. It will bring in the bees. If you don't want it to spread them plant it in a tub. I would also make some raised beds for some home grown vegies such as tomatoes and annual herbs like basil and parsley. Water is great to attract birds and bees so find a small birdbath and place it by a plant so that the birds can feel safe. I have a lovely one that is on a pedestal with little wrens around the edge but a wide shallow dish on a ground of pebbles looks lovely too. It is lovely to have fresh flowers inside so adding gardenias, daphne, lavender, native shrubs like grevilleas, banksias, correas, bulbs such as daffodils and jonnies, also iris and roses are all lovely. You can train climbers up the fence too such as jasmine, wisteria, and native hardenburgia. None of these plants are difficult to grow though the citrus will like some frost protection to start and I grew them all with great success in the bitter frosts, a number of floods and the scorching heat of the North East Victoria. As you can see, I like my garden to be a work horse not just a show pony. If I am investing my money and time then I want to be able to get perfume or produce from each plant.