What a great big room. The ideas are endless. Not sure if you live in Melb but I would get professional help. Honestly it doesn't cost a lot and you have peace of mind. For the painting go to any paint store, even Bunnings. They have the ph nos for a paint colour consultant. (I went with Dulux) but most Paint companies now have colour consultants to come out for a fee. The consultant comes out for a fee approx.($150) but that was for a few rooms. Then if you buy their paint, the price of the consultation is deducted off the paint you purchase. So really the consultation is free, if you choose their paint. Freedom decorator consultant works the same way. Can't remember how much (no more than $200) and she gave me great ideas. If you buy anything from them, again it's deducted off your purchase. There is no commitment with either paint company of Freedom to purchase from them. The advantage is, you can have the amount spent deducted from purchase. Honestly it cost saving and you get professional advise. Win Win situation. We've built 3 times and painted the house myself, and I have been so glad I did the above, with both paint and furnishings.. Plus I do up my own furniture, (most bought at garage sales) so I only purchased what I really wanted from Freedom, the rest 99%, I got from op shops and did up myself. But the ideas are helpful. Honestly, you need to know what decore you want in your room? So they will work around that. If your unsure, they will look at the rest of the house and work with your ideas. I like French provin. So I worked around that, Just to give you ideas you don't have to spend a fortune. My bedroom is also huge. Haven't took photos all-round. I redid all the furniture in both rooms. The above cabinet was brown stain which I painted white. GOODLUCK

Pottsy99 - here’s the pic I wanted to share. My original Reno floorplan - minimum disturbance of existing asbestos cladding inside & out - but extending footprint requires council approval so I reworked it into the floorplan I posted here I the first place. Thanks for your suggestions. That kind of thing is down the track at some point!

The kitchen has become one of the most important family areas of the modern home, which can be at odds with the way New Zealand homes have been built over the past decades. In this project, the family home worked well except for the kitchen being 'blocked off' so meal preparation and cooking split the family during the important 'after work' hours. To achieve better open plan living, we removed the main structural wall between the kitchen & dining areas and blocked off the original side entry into the kitchen, so the lost storage could be replaced. The result has been incredible. Meal preparation times have become family time, whether the kids are helping out, or doing homework from the kitchen bench. A great transformation to the home, and family life! The new kitchen itself is elegant and stylish, in a white gloss shaker style finish, engineered stone benches, and great design to provide great storage space. Don't be daunted by the Building Consent process - we can manage all that for you, from the Building Consent application, through to the issue of the Code of Compliance Certificate! During this period of lockdown we are pleased to be able to offer Zoom meetings, so feel free to contact us so we can get your renovation started. Before: After:

I agree the rocks need to go, or at least be dispersed over a wider area to give the pond a more organic look. You might be interested in the concept of natural pools. This is where swimming pools are converted from a chemical pool to a watergarden that naturally cleans itself and provides safe swimming water. The features I love about these are border plants (sedge, rushes and water lillies) a little wooden jetty for accessing the water and surrounded by gardens. Here are some examples. You need not enlarge your pond or use it for swimming but turn it into an attractive water feature where possibly fish could live under water lillies and you can sit on the little jetty to observe the fish. So move the rocks further out, plant sedge plants inbetween them so they cover them partially. Choose tall plants (Japanese iris & canna's are very beautiful and cheap for this) and creepers (creeping Jenny or water cress). A single water lily will be enough in that pond. Allow the deep part of the pond to be plant free, this will clear the water over time. Build a little platform over the water for seating. Then plant regular garden beds around that.