Thank you for your thoughts, I had originally had the design reversed the other way -where the rooms were mainly on the east-but as the design progressed the house was being pushed further towards the east which at low tide as I said becomes a mud flat. It was midway in the design process that I said to the draughtsman what if we flip the floor plan? Now most of the rooms are on the west where the outlook very rarely dries out. But with global warming I have reservations as to whether I have done the right thing. In the end I feel that I am dammed if I do and dammed if I don't in the choice of aspect. The design I must say regardless has achieved more than I had hoped for and exceeded all expectations -only one of the five bedrooms does not have an outlook. The kitchen , dining and lounge are up the front down stairs and are the focal points and are centre stage with expansive views.The rumpus area along with all the alfresco/deck areas have an outlook. The upstairs rumpus also has a wonderful outlook. So in the end I guess you can't always have it all. I have never done this before and I have overly concerned myself with getting it "right " the first and only time. Anyway I thank you again for taking the time to assist/ reassure me in my dilemma.

@Karen Hodge, I hear you!! Sometimes I think the estate agent should carry quite a bit of the blame actually. If they do their job correctly like you see in the adds on TV, they should bring these discrepancies to the attention of the sellers, stand on their morals and say if you can't get it better than this, then you'll have to find someone else to sell your home!! I know you can't make everybody "house proud" but the saying "do unto others" springs to mind. I bet if these same people bought a house not up to scratch, "a current affair" would hear about it but they don't think it wrong to simply walk out on a house that isn't being left nicely for the next family!! I have some friends that recently sold a house in Essendon, Melb and whilst the buyers were back and forth selling their own home, my friends kept watering the plants and even did things like painted out the wardrobes because of the scuff marks made over time!! They cleaned the entire two storey house from top to bottom and finished by mopping the floors as they were exiting. The buyers were so taken by the entire home, they bought it with almost all the furniture that my friends had in it!!

I think that the problem that you have is that you have too many flat surfaces and angles with nothing to lead your eye away from the blandness. You have grey concrete, grey roof, grey walls and the emotional response to that is a feeling of flatness and blah. The only thing that brings any kind of relief to the view are the plants and the steps that introduce different levels. My suggestion would be to look at adding texture, different levels for contrast to the flat surfaces and colours that unite those elements. Take a look at how the red lid on the rubbish bin pops out amongst the muted tones. Maybe bright red pots with taller (and healthier) looking plants in them on either side of the bench with a textural artwork or screen as mentioned above in between. You could be really bold and paint the steps red!, but don't do the pot plant suggestion if you do that. Once the air conditioning unit is removed I would put more boards down the front to cover up the gap and dirt underneath the pot plants. If you have the available space in front of that, place some seating and maybe a table, perhaps toning in with the grey tones but with a colour pot or cushions that tie in with the plants in the coloured (I suggested red, go with what you like) pots. I would also like to see what sort of door you have to access the room and yes, put the bins somewhere else if possible, they are unsightly.

This is really tough, but if I could go for a dip before and after work by waking up on the beach, that really would be the dream!