I would not recommend bamboo, especially that close to the pool. Bamboo drops lots and lots and lots of leaves and it is also susceptible to salt and chlorine. We planted bamboo (clumping) along the fence in our pool area in Melbourne and although I loved the look of it we took it out last year as it was just too much work cleaning up the leaves. I could have filled our green bin every week and it clogged up our pool cleaning robot. It also started yellowing in one spot that occasionally got splashed and I was told it was due to the chemicals. Once we took the bamboo out we had timber slat screening put up against the existing fence (with consent from neighbor) and have now planted a few lily pily in front. So much easier to maintain now.

At least the Crimsafe doors won't take from any design features. What I will throw into the discussion is that you could put your screen door further out in the Entrance area (there seems to be half a metre or so in the photograph) and if they were double frames could latch back when required, rather than one large frame taking up all the space. Just ensure the area is covered, so visitors son't cop a deluge awaiting access. For added security, bolts could be attached to one side top and base and the other frame do most of the swinging.

Hi Douglas, great house, love the steps and your renovation is great, you could do something a bit different with your porch cover, screens could look fabulous and they would give a beautiful ambience to the area, timber slats would look great also, you could add clear sheets of laserlite for weather protection also if required.

nothing wrong with cream gutters as long as they don't leak but consider a stained timber pergola to match the decking and, unless you want to leave furniture on the deck and sit out there undercover you need relatively small sections of sheeting that only shelter the front door and lets light through but doesn't overheat and cook the heads of someone waiting at the door!..one of the light coloured Polycarbonates like Lazerlite Suntuf comes in 2-3m length and two sheets will cover a section about 1.5m wide but check the flatter profiles like Greca (not shaped liked corrugated iron) as it can be laid much flatter and still shed water away from the house and you can check samples and colours at the major hardware stores