Are you asking just about making your unit look more inviting, or all of them? I took it to mean just the one unit pictured . . . So, for the garden bed, something big with plenty of leaves and, ideally, spectacular flowers. I'd recommend maybe a strelitzia (bird of paradise) or canna lily. Currently you have have low maintenance mother-in-law's tongue and a yukka - just too small and spindly for the space. A bird of paradise thrives on neglect . . . for way more impact/distraction value . . . In front of the other window, a whacking great pot with a 'pleached' tree in it. These trees have a trellis with them and grow sideways. Pleaching is mostly done with fruit trees, so you get the added bonus of fruit! . Or consider a couple of 'Teddy Bear' magnolias in two pots - this Houzz story shows both pleaching and magnolias in narrow spots https://www.houzz.com.au/magazine/block-out-thy-neighbour-privacy-plants-for-the-modern-home-stsetivw-vs~41847280 Now, when you've coming from the garage to the front door (with shopping), you are going to have step around in front of this (or have it placed forward so you can step behind). It will be a bit more awkward, but will mask most of that side of the front door. Or are you able to turn that dead lawn bed into a garden bed and plant directly into it? If so, I'd still go with either of these options. Now, smaller plants are much cheaper to buy, but I'd buy the biggest plants you can afford, for the most effect right away . . .

Hi Anne, there are some good suggestions above, in addition the question I always ask is "where is north"!! This should be a consideration too, and it's a little hard to tell how this open plan room connects to the rest of the house - is it the door at the end of the lounge, and are those solid walls at that end? (You might want to consider taking the windows further into the corner of the lounge, to ensure you can see the view from your couch/lounge chairs etc). I am quite curious about what "view" it is! Ocean? Mountain? Although a kitchen-sink window is always great, because you tend to spend more time socialising and meal-prepping around the large island, we would suggest trying to have the island face the view, or if side-on to the view, that it isn't obstructed by other benches. With your room only 6.5m wide, if you rotated through 90degrees and placed the kitchen on the long wall and leaving the pantry/wet room 'behind' the kitchen as in the current arrangement this might potentially block the flow of circulation through to the rest of the house. You could consider leaving the kitchen as-is but moving the kitchen sink bench to the other side and making this a 'tall things' zone (fridges etc) and moving the sink to where the fridge was, and moving pantry entry to the same side as wet-entry. The reason I suggest this is because when you are cooking intensely, you want to minimise circulation routes through a kitchen, so people can come and go and access the fridge (and the wine!) without interrupting the cooking. Of course it is only access to the pantry, so this might be fine too however if you did move the pantry entry to the other end this would create a protected cooking zone at the 'view' end. Ultimately, there is the opportunity to fully glaze the view whether the island is side-on or facing the view - exactly like the kitchen image posted above! (But insert your view into the picture!) As a side note, some builders only complain about sliding doors because they are harder to install and problematic to fix if the architraves need to be removed and replastering done (compared with simply rehanging a swing door!) For a good builder it should simply not be an issue and will significantly improve your access to the space, we always do sliding doors into pantries! Also ditto about the width of the pantry, 1.8m would allow a 600mm bench space on one side for appliances to be kept out, normal depth drawers under and shelves over, and a wall of 300mm wide shelves the other side, this will genuinely feel like a 'big' pantry. And finally - a suggestion to NOT put an oven in the pantry if 4doz bottles of wine are in there! Even if you are not cellaring long term wine likes a nice stable (and cool) temperature for storage. Good Luck Anne!

Hi AndrewJason, I love cavity sliders. they are there when you want them but not visible when you need the space open. Having said that they cost more, take a bit of wreckage to set up and in you WA case you will be wrecking brick walls to put them in which might be a stretch of mess too far. BUT you will need to weigh up if they are worth it in the end. I do not think the build will be too bulky in the kitchen/dining because it will be superbly practical on both sides and it maybe just a matter of what you are used to. Not sure about "Average Joe...…" we are all good at somethings, mine is plans, function, practicality, solar. Yours might be brain surgery, empathy for unwell folks, kinda or you make the best seafood lasagne in the world... we are all needed to make for a great world: and it really is that!!! Good luck with your splendid home: I think it is beautiful. And PS if you do make the best seafood anything I better have your address....!!!!!!! MK

I've been working from home for many, many years, but it took me until a little over a year ago to finally refurnish my office to be efficient and comfortable, after years of putting up with major inconveniences. Then hubby decided to sell the house and move! The house we are buying had built-in's in the office that looked great but were totally unsuitable for my needs. Hubby was quite upset when I made it a condition of the purchase that the seller rip all the built-ins out and make good to create an empty space. I then set about drawing a scaled plan of the room and scaled models of all my office furniture and arranging it on the plan. Works okay. Nowhere near as great as the office I am leaving behind - primarily because it lacks the lovely sunny corner in which I placed a favourite comfortable reading chair. And one credenza has to live inside the built-in wardrobe with the bookcase that was above it fixed on the wall above my desk. But it will work reasonably well overall. I do, however, need to buy a good office chair. I dumped mine in the move after making do with a hard pillow to compensate for the broken back and seat height adjusters! My major challenge, for many years, has been a weak local internet connection. Hopefully that will not be a problem in our new home. It was a bad spot, but NBN was connected recently so fingers crossed it's all good now.