If you are planning to move in a few years, leave the decision whether to paint the bricks to the next owner - they may not wish to have the regular job of re-painting! The awnings , as already mentioned, may be there for a very good reason - wait until mid summer before you decide to ditch them totally, it would be good to get them working properly again to get the sunshine into the house in winter . Central West NSW is a hard place for plants - hot and dry in summer, frosty in winter. Chinese Star Jasmine is an excellent choice along the side fence, but will need watering when young, especially if that fence is exposed to sunlight the whole day in summer. It will grow and become quite heavy, make sure the fence is up to it. You could plant some deciduous trees in the front lawn to give shade in summer to those front windows - crepe myrtles are tough enough, Chinese pistachios are good - anything will need watering to establish, but once they are growing well you can gradually toughen them up by decreasing the watering; the deciduous trees will lose their leaves in winter and still let the sunlight come pouring in to the house. Grass will struggle under their branches once the trees start to spread, so plan to create garden beds underneath them early on. You could underplant with bulbs - tulips will love the cold winter, daffodils and jonquils will love the winter sunshine when the leaves are bare. You will need to know the path of the sun in midsummer and in midwinter to work out the best position for trees, so take pictures of where the sunlight and shadows fall in the different seasons to refer back to when planting. Roses also love a hot dry climate, but you may not wish to get involved with rose pruning and thorns etc! Talk to your local nursery person, they will be able to give you good local advice and recommendations - if you have an idea of what you need the front to do that will help - do you need lawn for kids , are you happy to kiss the lawn goodbye etc. Wander around your neighbourhood in the different seasons, and if you see something that catches your eye, either talk to the house owner or take a picture and visit the nursery again! Most people are thrilled to be asked questions about their garden, and will prove to be mines of useful information. See if there are any open gardens open to the public in spring / summer - these are often really spectacular, and the grand country gardens are wonderful for ideas , which can be modified for a smaller area and budget.

If you can put doors on the whole back area and deck or pave out to a functional size for entertaining - be sure to have as close to same height as inside and the whole width of the house if possible. You could do the pergola which looks gorgeous and makes a cozy feel. On top of the pergola you may be able to do a weatherproof retractable awning if you do not want a permanent covered area. That would make a whole area for indoor outdoor entertaining in all types of weather. You can still have a step down area to grass and plants at the rear. Travetine is great and easy to hose down. You do not have to concrete them down use pavers on a good road base. You would have to speak to the experts about how to get the right height - also be sure to have a slight fall away from the house.

I've been playing around with a pantry location. Originally, I was going to move the pantry into the laundry with some custom shelving and cut the laundry space in half. Now, Im thinking of cutting into the study area and building a wall there, and converting the new space into a long and narrow walk in pantry. Either that or build half a wall and put built in shelving in the study. Building the extra wall will reduce the need to cover in the door way that is currently in place and instead utilising it. Thoughts? p.s. this isnt too scale.

Hi friendly Kim. I've just looked at your profile to see if I could find your photos. I noticed you have them on a new post. I now understand, you already have a full alfresco area under the main roof, and vertical sun blinds, and also have noticed your fan, as you mentioned. The roof extractor fan may help remove the heat. I was also thinking if you had some tall lush plants along the side where the pull down blinds are. This would stop the sun, but allow the air through. But, sometimes we just have to move inside. This is why solar passive orientation of our new homes is so important. Hope you find a solution.