Oh wow! Jealous! Paint Dark charcoal grey or black like balustrades on neighbours balconies! Depending on what direction facing for light and heat either 1. Combination of brick in and make a beautiful feature wooden door and windows for light, internal mezzanine bedroom and open plan living downstairs. 2. If cash not problem make up a black steel framed window, door entrance, very chic, industrial and on trend.

If the brick is a functioning chimney I would leave it other wise a rough render could work. One of the issues is that the nearby features such as the light and painting clash. As in the dining room, try a large mirror and a big photo e.g. to link it all. Also good rugs with strong reds, browns, oranges would help co-ordinate the rooms at low expense. I would try a colourful Moroccon style rug near the brick feature before attempting a major fix.

Well, I finally calmed down and called the retailer this afternoon. Our builder must have scared them as they have now "found" some stock and are awaiting delivery tomorrow to confirm that we are good to go. Thank you all for your input! It makes a difference when things go wrong to hear other people's perspective. And yes, it wasn't going to be the end of the world BUT I work full-time, have kids and going on weekend tile shopping mission is not my idea of fun. (with the kids anyway...) Trek, we had to choose the tiles as part of the specifications prior to starting the build. Not by choice because I also wanted to see the tiles in the rooms they go in prior to ordering like we did in other projects. I hope the delivery tomorrow is our selected stock......Thanks again everyone!

If you design your house along passive house principles you'll build a rectangular house (long sides facing north & South), close to your southern boundary, & your outlook from your living areas will face north. However I'm not sure if I agree with Ed Ed or not. I'd always take into consideration privacy issues & where the neighbours will build. But which is better, your living areas facing 3 backyards, or one home? Note that building setbacks usually have rear setbacks (& front setbacks), which are much larger than side setbacks. So for block 256 you'll be adjacent to 3 backyards, but these 3 homes will be quite far away, due to the large rear setbacks. While for block 245, you'll only have the one northern neighbour, but they could build close to your boundary (due to the smaller side setbacks). Do you know what will be built on these neighbouring blocks? Have you investigated the rules for setbacks? Luckily these are all large blocks, so hopefully you won't have a large double storey close to your boundary. It's a tough choice. But I'd prefer to look towards 3 backyards than a double storey house. Also, as someone else asked. It's block 256 dual frontage? I'd prefer to build the garage facing west, to protect the house from western sun, but I'm not sure if I'd want dual frontage or not.