I wouldn't recommend covering the northern deck with a permanent structure. As oklouise says, along with losing that lovely northern light, you'll miss out on all the heat that winter sunshine would provide (called passive solar heating. This could be very substantial, resulting in decreased comfort & increased heating bills. Read more about passive solar heating here, http://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design My parents have a horizonal awning over a small balcony that works well, though may not be suitable for a larger area. They also have a large triangular shade sail upstairs, on their terrace. This must be put up & taken down every day that it's used (due to ocean breezes), which is a nuisance. So it's not used too often. The next door neighbours also have a large triangular shade sail. This one is a permanent fixture, & rolls up. Although it does take two people to roll/unroll it, it is still a much more convenient set up. It's not perfect, as the fabric is quite flimsy (although it roll away behind a guard that would protect it from the weather a bit). But something similar would be worth investigating. This was a custom job, & I'm struggling a bit to find something the same online. I have found an interesting rectangular roll up shade sail (by Soliday I think). I'm struggling to use the website on my phone, but it may be worth looking at. It's a 41 page pdf towards the bottom of the page, after the other images. http://pdf.archiexpo.com/pdf/plaspack-netze-gmbh/roll-up-sun-sails-soliday-2015/93246-245657-_9.html

Thank you all for your comments, suggestions, drawings and photos, I really appreciate the effort you all put in to help others on this great platform. I have come up with another idea (see photos below) that involves putting the fridge on the back wall of the kitchen behind cabinetry doors (yes, I know I was adamantly against this!) and bringing the door of the pantry forward to be in line with the front of the fridge. The pantry door would also be cabinetry and the section of wall. I don’t really know how to explain this, but the wall the kitchen backs on to would be bulk headed out so it continues in line with the pantry/fridge front all the way to the ceiling. This creates a sort of symmetry in the doors of the fridge and pantry being either side of the cooktop, but without the worry of having to line the rangehood up with the apex of the cathedral ceiling....I think. What do you think? P.S. Please excuse my shoddy hand drawn sketches.

Hi, firstly congratulations on your decision to renovate. How exciting. We are nearing the end of a major renovation and choosing the exterior colours was a real sticking point. Most of the houses around us were built in the 1990's and my renovation had the potential to not quite fit in. I had to use a timber cladding to match the existing cedar but the original had been poorly stained and I was never going to get a cohesive match between old and new. I was left pondering my choices. The solution was to paint both but what colour? In the end, I looked at what of the existing was going to be left unchanged. It turned out to be the Karaka Green window frames - not my favourite colour - but in order to work with it I had to pray I didn't offend the neighbourhood. I didn't want the old dirty brown shade and a thousand testpots later, left me with only one really obvious answer. As you can see from the photo, I chose [quite radically] to paint the entire extention in Half Karaka green. It's still a work in progress and in the coming weeks, the rest of the house will be painted to match. I waited for the neighbours - particularly, the old people from the Rest Home at the end of the street - to tell me off for my choice but have been blown away by their reactions. Every last comment has been a major thumbs up. Even the painter - who was highly skeptical - apologised for his doubt, Don't automatically assume your neighbours are going to hate seeing the changes you are about to bring to the area. Which brings me to your planned renovations. I am assuming that your window frames are also going to remain the white colour in the photo. Rather than get all confused about greys etc. Start with them as the basis for the rest of the house and work out from there. If you do that, then I don't think it will be as difficult as it currently seems for you to pick what the rest of the house will be. Don't be afraid to spend money on purchasing test pots. They are around $4 or $5 each and I believe that I probably spent $200. It was worth every penny to me to get a few small off cuts of cedar painted and sit and look at them alongside the existing windows in order to make an informed decision. Good luck. I look forward to seeing some finished photos. I hope to post my finished renovation photos here soon.

Is there a particular reason you want to replace the timber with tiles in the uncovered area? I always think it is better to stay with one or two key materials and if you are keeping the uncovered area as decking, and also keeping the merbau screen, then it may be better to keep the covered flooring as decking. We have laid tiles over a decking structure before and it can be problematic with the inevitable movement of the timber causing cracking in the grout lines. Flexible grout can be used, however it is never a perfect solution. If you are looking to change up the surface, then maybe consider painting or a different stain to all the timber areas. I hope this has helped!