Running cladding in opposite directions gives a contemporary look. Many examples I've seen seem to vary the profile width each. ie. narrow verticals juxtaposed with broader horizontals. You could clad base in a recycled plastic timber-look product or composite timber cladding. (Colour stable and no maintenance). Stone could look fab too. Painting it the Farrier would definitely be simplest. You could do a contrast with the verandah floor and its edge.

Thanks to nickybaruch I am now considering doing the floor (which is now sanded back ready for finishing off) with white liming with a slight tint colour in it. Some say you have to be very careful when liming. Is this a problem? I would have thought it would be just like putting on a stain? Anyway doing it that way we would still see the grain of the timber floor which would be lighter than the dark cedar it was before and keeping the pine lined ceiling with the cedar coloured beams will blend in well I think with the lighter timber floor and the white walls we now have. What do you think?

Hi Katrina, Polymarble is preferable over acrylic as it’s self-supporting as well as resilient to the demands of everyday living. Additionally, an added benefit is that it has a quality feel and is solid under the foot. Fontaine Industries offer frameless shower screens with these bases. The middle image you found from google is actually from our store. https://fontaineind.com.au/oxley-frameless-shower-screen-900mm We have two locations in Melbourne, Hallam & Niddrie. We’d be more than happy to help you out and answer any questions about concerns you may have.

You've posted on Australian Houzz. Not sure you meant to do that.