I like a very full, ornate tree, with plenty of sparkle. I have large bows and a train that runs through the top of he tree, with puffing smoke and a bright lint and whistle. I like the tree to take on the whole meaning of Christmas and I overload it with memories and moments of Christmases past. I also have Christmas elves in mine. They are about knee high and are dressed in rich burgundy and green traditional costumes, with lots of gold embelishmens. They have porcelain faces and there are enough climbing amongst on perched on branches to look real for my daughters amazement! They add to the whimsical and imagination of little ones.

Perhaps if you look at your outdoor spaces as outdoor rooms, it may help you personalize and organize the areas. What I see in the photo is a small front yard divided in half, and a tree placed exactly in the center of the other half, within a little square of bed. I expect you would not do that with an interior room. A visitor will be compelled to race down the hallway to the front door, and probably not even notice the tree, since it is not part of a composition, a furniture grouping. You enter your living room to a welcoming composition of a furniture grouping, lamps, pictures on the wall, drapes (I hope) on the windows. You get the idea. Would you put a post lamp in the middle of an empty room? It would tend to diminish the size of the space and it's usefulness as a space. Would you put a carpet down the center of a room? -- only if you were creating two separate scenarios of equal size. You need some on-site advisers, whether they be landscape architects or interior designers, someone or more than one who will offer their experienced suggestions for you to consider, but not immediately act upon. You need to live with your new spaces and walk through their ideas for weeks, or months, before making a decision on how to proceed. Perhaps it would help you to read the thoughts of some international designers like Bunny Williams, with her book, On Garden Style, where you will get the feeling that the views of the outside rooms from within the house are as important as the views from the street. You will want to move the maple out of its central location, remove the central path, - and the conifers scare me. You really have a very small space up front here. Take a look in the park at the size of a mature conifer. They will occupy your yard and that of your neighbor, as they develop as nature intended. They are very beautiful, a work of art, but space-consuming. You may have room in the back yard, but be careful when blocking the magnificent views from within the house. Perhaps you will provide an entrance to your outdoor room over to the right, near your property line, with the tree, the lamp post, a small chair or bench, a bed of small plants that have beauty and fragrance throughout the seasons - a space you would like to sit in yourself, perhaps have coffee with the neighbor, or the kids hang out with a pal. Then have the walk work its way over toward the entrance area - not the door, but the welcoming area before the door, slow them down to enjoy the sequence, while providing a most pleasant view of this area from within. Make the plantings permanent, with no soil or mulch to show, after two years, as the groundcover plants mature and cover the beds. Keep all the annual plants in containers, to be stored away if empty, so the views of your spaces are not distracted by an open area in the bed where the annuals have departed, or an empty pot. Consider excluding your auto from your outdoor room, your welcoming area. You don't have room for a real screen, so just a suggestion, as a small hedge or plant bed to stop the eye before it gets to the drive. Perhaps the view beyond the drive is attractive, so all you need to filter from the view is the driveway pavement itself, as the car belongs in the garage, yes? Sometimes a little perimeter fence with a gate says welcome to my special space. In your case perhaps a darker color, not the typical white, which would be a high contrast to the house and not appropriate here, grabbing all the attention. What I have offered may be of no use to you, however, the intent of my words is to provoke you to analyze first, then plan. Consider alternatives from all viewpoints before deciding how to proceed, as these spaces and plants will be a part of your life for many years. Good luck to you. Continue the process at the tortoise pace, not the hare.

Over the years I have improvised Christmas trees depending on our circumstances. When we were living in the middle of renovations a surveyor's tripod became a quite respectable tree. Later, in a small apartment, a few evergreen twigs hung on the wall in the form of a tree worked fine. The next year we had an ornamental bamboo in that same spot so that became the tree.

I'd take a different path . You say you are on a budget , but then you want possibly the most expensive brand of barbie ( yes , they are good , but they are good because they are portable . . . . . ) and getting in a builder to build in furniture . Personally , I hate the mushroom trim -- see how much better the charcoal screens look ! So get 4 litres of charcoal , and a brush . Get a $300 4 burner stainless steel if you can , barbeque , preferably with a lid . Or even a $600 one with side burners ( put pots on them ) and a rotisserie . Go to K Mart or Bunnings and buy attractive table and chairs ( similar to in the pics -- I assume that was previous owners ? You can move them round , stack them up , more versatile . Get colourful outdoor cushions and maybe a big colourful glazed pot with plants to suit . Go with your favourite colour or two . Your concept would be double the price , a bit better in some respects but not so in others , but at least you have another idea .