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.

I like the bricks in the fence and you don't want to paint or render this, as you would be providing a lovely, fresh canvas for graffiti 'artists' to scribble on your walls. However, you could create a border area just in front of the fence and plant some shrubs or narrow trees. (Just saw a segment on Catalyst on the ABC the other day on types of trees which help to filter out pollution from your home. Silver birch trees seemed to do well, whilst taking up very little space and being quite sparse.) Even a border of mondo grass would be good, though this is very short in height.

I'm not a huge fan of the teal tiles. I would pick up a beautiful neutral travertine and some natural stone that highlights the white and pulls in the yellow timber tones to form the pool edge. Timber walls are stunning, but it requires a lot of maintenance and the commitment to keep it looking pristine. It is easier to colour block with a deep accent colour like grey or rich brown and use architectural features like pillars, shadowboxes or the frames as previously mentioned. It is also well worth getting a lighting designer to come in and help you think about how to create more drama and functional lighting for your pool.

I noticed you had No Parking signs before on the wall, if that’s still the problem you could use bright paint and write in large letters “ no parking “ across garage door, it could be funny, artful anything you can think of there is lots of ideas on line , or get graffiti artist do do something different.