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.

Hi there, As I see it the problem is common in that there are too many doors in the nearly square space so all the room should be taken with traffic lights! Can the laundry be over with the kitchen? Can the proposed living room have three walls uninterrupted by doors on the north or east (garden) sides? This will give u place to put sitting furniture. Then make kitchen & l'dry on south side as skinny as possible maximising the width of the room for dining table. The other problem that is silly is the garage at the back of the site (It was for keeping the horses away from the house). It is wasting all the drive space. If cars can park at the front of the site it frees a heap of extra space on the south that can be used far better. Kitchen and laundry over by the south boundary, clear space for dining that could open to the existing lounge, area on the north for bedroom creep adding ensuite next to existing bathroom, and living area to the north and east......This helps maximise north light and living too. Hope that makes sense for you! Happy planning, Margot

As you guessed , I just express my opinion . Some agree , some don't . Some houses which I have sold 20 years ago are still in the same decor , other people may not have purchased . I prefer a planned colour pallette and something that has a Wow , and I definitely won't have the same colour walls and ceilings all through a property . Some fast food restaurants do have the same colour all the way through , but even they tend to have white ceilings or similar . I do have a ( small ) stainless deep fryer that does great chips though ! As far as texture goes , I 100% guarantee I would have more texture than this house , to use the obvious comparison . That is why , if you go back up to my original post , I suggested a feature wall of wallpaper , and a painting -- texture and colour . I don't like grey or beige as primary colours , and in fact don't consider them pastels either , but thats pointless arguing semantics . I wouldn't have that combo , the OP would -- good on her . If houzz only had people that agree , it may be very boring .

Is it normally this boggy or are you in part of Australia having extreme rain at the moment? Either way you will want some sort of path sorted so you can wander in and out without getting muddy. Is this an access area or just garden bed? If only a bed then stone steppers would be good but you'll probably need something more substantial. You might also want to think about the dampness adjacent to your house. At the very least you might need gravel along there.  But I'm not very technical with drainage ideas.