Just read this post today, spiders done really bother me but I do kill the wolf spiders here. Living in a rural area you see all kinds of creators. Last summer I went to pick my dog up from his godparents, when I looked down in the passenger floorboard there was a good size black snake(good snake), all coiled up resting nicely. I went to my friends house to get a golf club to get it out, but the snake had gone up in my dash. After I drove home, I call the local vets office, they had no idea what to do. So I called the local Nature Center and they could not tell me what to do. First I tried blasting the radio with Heavy Metal, hoping that would bother my visitor and it would leave. Did not happen! Then I turned the heat on high, open the car doors, kept a vigilant watch, after a while I saw the head come out and final the black snake left by the passenger door. Me being there did not bother it in the least, moved over to my raised flower bed, stretched out, about 5 feet long then went on his way. Two weeks ago we were installing a new waterline and the guys saw the snake where they were working. They picked it up and move to the field across the way. Later they were discussing something and the black snake came back, went right between the two of them like they weren't even their. FYI Black Snakes kill copperheads and rattlesnakes, which we all so have. I prefer the Black Snake any day.

@Souzette Lovell, I know nothing about bidets but just commenting on your question about water being splashed on untiled areas of your bathroom. I constructed my bathroom entirely with villa board, and the only plaster is on the ceiling. I have also tiled the entire bathroom to the ceiling because it made sense to do this rather than be concerned about any water ingress anywhere as well as any damage from something like the hand held shattaff you mention and it means zero maintenence having to repaint from time to time. My suggestion is if it's not too late to use villaboard and not plaster, in fact I'm surprised all bathrooms aren't fitted out with villaboard but I don't think it's compulsory except for the shower cubicle. I did it so there would never be an issue with water damage as this material is impervious to water ingress. Otherwise if it's too late and your bathroom is complete, I would tile this wall or a section of the wall as it would make more sense to be able to wipe the tiles regularly in case of any unwanted splashes from regular use if there are children especially, as their aim isn't always perfect and it's hard to clean plaster ha-ha!!

You can't really "cover" the gas heater - but you could try to "disguise" it using a 'low growing' bamboo or informal hedging plant in a container that you can keep pruned and - that way you can move the plant if you need to access the heater for maintenance. If you were to put a storage unit under it you could easily disguise the heater with rosemary, or grass plants etc. Be sure to check what load bearing capacity your balcony has - so that you can safely use your balcony to its full advantage. Mirrors make a difference on the opposite wall to where your heater is - you could even use a one on that wall too - if you use a mirror opposite a garden wall your space will instantly feel bigger. To keep the maximum floor space you can on the balcony, think about a vertical wall garden and planter boxes on the railings. If you do decide to go for planters on the floor of your balcony remember to go light weight plastic as terracotta, and porcelain can get heavy quickly. For your soil - think about core peat with a slow release fertilizer - core peat is light weight but has no nutrients for your plants. I cant see that you've got a tap - if you don't then think carefully about drought tolerant plants as carrying out watering pots several times a day in summer isn't much fun. If you do have a tap - think about installing a drip irrigation system on a timer to give yourself more time to sit back and enjoy your balcony rather than working on it.

I like the look of the outside of the house , and initially I wouldn't change the yellowy beige colour . What I would do is get the concrete block retaining wall either rendered in the same colour as the house , or if the budget ran to it -- get a genuine stone facade . As far as gardens to soften the look , I'd stick to the meditarreanian theme , and do a couple of 2 metre tall green leafy plants in wooden round planters ( half wine barrels or similar ) , and maybe a long , slim garden ( 4 or 5 metres long by 40cm wide ) with marigolds or similar .