Thanks everyone for your further comments. No problem about it being an old post, always nice to communicate with people about design solutions/problems. Jilly, I posted some photos on 1st January 2016, they appear further up in the post. Garden Beet Pty Ltd, and Morel Construction Ltd, both of your solutions look great, but our problem still remains the western Queensland sun which is pretty vicious on anything that will either wilt, fade or break down. It was quite a difficult challenge to come up with something that was affordable, workable and durable. I would love to have had plants because I believe they soften large "hard" exterior areas, but we have decided that we will do that with pots around the pool area. Still have that to do, even after all this time. :) Thanks everyone for re-igniting this chat. Jilly, hope you find something that works for you.

For a cheaper, faster and possibly easier option, take a look at this for some inspiration. The lighter colour of the walls may reflect more light and be a stand out feature of your home. Click on the link and scroll to the image of the polished timber floor with the timber wall and ceiling. Polished timber floors with timber wall paneling

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.

Looks like colorbond or scyon wall cladding, concrete render painted white/off white and 'apollo' bricks by boral.