Place white porcelain tiles inside.....and a metre outside of the new room I would lay cream rectangle pavers and it will look amazing Get rid of all the trees and just grass and place small hedges around the fence and on one side of the new room I will put a decking the same colour as the bi fold timber trimming in oak will be awesome

First off your husband will need a pair of noise cancelling headphones :-) It depends on how handy 'you' are, the only limit is your imagination. You could trot around the Opportunity furniture shops, collect a couple of filing cabinets and use those to hang a board between. Blackboard paint on one side and glue felt, cork or fabric on the other. Then you have a noticeboard for the office and a blackboard for the children. This can be repeated in different configurations for more privacy. Alternatively check the internet sites like Gumtree or the Trading Post and see if anyone is selling at a good price folding screens or something that could be used as a screen. Most of all enjoy doing it.

I love Siruskeys idea ! I must admit , if it was me , I would have been more inclined to get some post extensions ( wood the same 100 x 100 or whatever it is ) , unbolt the top , get some galv brackets made with a 'hook' on half of them , bolt the old and new together using the brackets , then do everything in charcoal . Of course , these new brackets ( flat steel say 30-40mm wide and 6-8mm thick ) will look a bit funny , and the charcoal stain won't take the same , so they'll always look a bit out of place . But thats why you get the engineers to put a 'hook' on them before you send to the galvanisers -- a bit of 8mm solid rod coming 120mm or so out , with a couple of small bends , one down , one up . Yes , hang hanging plants on them -- takes the focus away from the poles , the extensions , adds some colour and 'life' . But I'm a lot more rip than sirus haha ! Oh , and I'd paint or tile the deck , probably charcoal to match the windows , or terracota to suit the style , but even off-white or grey ( if tiling ) would work . The brown less so .

The east facing pergola will stop some of the east morning sun from entering your home. Therefore that back room will be dark in winter. It will not shade from the hot afternoon sun because west is on the other side. And the house would be shading the east side already. (Assuming your in Australia) In summer the east pergola will be a wonderful place to sit out of the sun. Why do you wish to angle the pergola away from the home? This will cause issue with your rain water diversion. Are you going to connect it with the current gutters, or install a new gutter system?