Whatever you do never plant a gum! They have no place in suburban areas! The sooner the council realises that these trees kill people the better! We have had two gum trees fall on the back of our house now, one in 2012 and one in 2014. We are so lucky that myself, my husband, three children, three dogs, five Guinea pigs, two parrots and one bearded dragon were not injured. It's just a miracle not once but twice! I still don't know how we escaped unharmed. The gums do not have a stable root system and they grow very shallow, they get to the point where they just fall over. And the scary thing is they fall silently. They are not called 'Widow Makers' in the bush for no reason. I like the Tuckeroo tree, not sure of scientific name. They grow with a straight trunk and keep their foliage in a straight and symmetrical line along the bottom and grow hiding their branches. Essentially they look like a large mushroom. They are green all year too. I think they get to about 6 metre or ten if they have to reach for the sun.

@ alchemy, I can see you've put allot of effort into your beautiful yard and pool and whist I agree that you will probably regret a deciduous tree, irrespective of it losing most of its leaves in a short period, it would be allot of work clearing that debris from your pool but I agree that you need to complete your yard with greenery. I think the ficafolia suggested by bigreader could look stunning but I have one in my yard (no pool) and the gumnuts this little tree of mine drops must be seen to be believed albeit they dont blow. A palm of course is one of the best trees due to its lack of debris and the tropical look it provides is always a winner, however, getting one fairly established would be the way as they don't grow super fast but the expense of such a tree could be quite prohibitive. I would seriously listen to advice offered by people with an outdoor pool as experience is the best teacher, so you must decide just how much work you want to give yourself over and above the normal workload simply having an outdoor pool and I'd strongly consider the suggestion Mel N offered of putting up a sun shade or sail initially and see how that works for you. Best of luck. Cheers, Barbara

Wow, that house is WAY to big. How on earth do you clean it? Why not have outdoor entertaining on the back deck? This would incorporate flying fox to a cubby and play equipment down the back yard. In the summer perhaps a collapsible awning for during the day but at night just candles and the stars to keep you company. If the weather is too cold you could provide a pile of crocheted lap rugs or fur or old blankets to get the cottage or french look. I suppose then your dining furniture would need to be a style to suit - maybe more relaxed or boho. Anyway sounds good fun - oo I forgot to allow for the outdoor fireplace (stone or brick) preferably. I notice you said any ideas would be greatly appreciated so I will press on regardless another day.

Hi Natasha, I think you are heading in the right direction with your arrangement of spaces. I think bedroom 3 where the laundry is makes better use of the outside window wall and just down the hallway from the bathroom. Also as you suggest, having bedroom 4 on the other side of the house is good for shift work sleep arrangements even if there is no extra powder room. Have you thought about making a small entry lobby from the courtyard where the master bedroom door is and moving the master bedroom door nearer to the ensuite, similar to Oklouise's plan. You could put a good coat cupboard from the entry backing onto the master bedroom wall. Open up the wall from the new entry to the kitchen/living space, where you have shown a cupboard. I also think having the TV area, dining and a small study room in that one area will make it feel too small. I'd make an office/study a deep cupboard that can be shut off when not in use. Perhaps create a full joinery wall between the living area and the media and bedroom 4 that works both ways and includes the study, B4 robe, TV units and entry to the media room and B4. In terms of the kitchen and laundry, I would make a nice deep laundry cupbd facing bedroom 2 in the hallway. Make sure it is big enough for all the stuff you need - ironing bd storage etc. The kitchen would be similar to what you have shown but move the island down to the outside wall to make it a peninsular. This would stop the kitchen being a walkthrough and as the laundry would ocupy the wall end near the entry, it would make the kitchen focus down the other end of the space. You can use the corner cupboard at the outer wall where the peninsular joins the bench for dining stuff storage facing the dining side, not the kitchen. Dining and living could be interchangeable and it depends on the relationship you want for both with the kitchen, back yard, front entry and media room. Cheers, Christine.