Breaking up the great solid block of colour a little bit helps to hide it. Next is the choice of what to plant. I'm leaning towards: ficus pumila, climbing fig, which can be pruned to hug the fence tightly, Himalyan blue bamboo, (but might sprout on other side of fence as well, so should have a 60cm deep root guard or be planted in pots) or waterhousia floribunda, weeping lilypilly, which can be pruned to a narrow, non-climbable hedge but 30cm might be about as narrow as possible. I'm just a bit scared the bamboo will move into the neighbours yard too...You also have to be careful to not plant anything with massive roots that could eventually crack your pool, and it has to be tough enough to cope with a bit of chlorine... Then, put in a dip line so you don't have to water such a narrow spot. Good luck, and let us know what you decide.

Hi I have work in the building Industry for many years before venturing into Landscaping and Design. It come to this having a split level can be easy but you will need to think would you like to come up and down multi level home. I had a multi level home at Bonnells Bay (Newcastle) N.S.W. and found after living there for 5 year a bit of chore to go up and down the level so much. A single level flow better to go with a Alfresco Dinning experience, as if you have a guest at your house been entertain on the outside it make it hard to find a toilet if needed. I would say to your husband to weigh up the cost, it is simple and as follows a retaining wall of one level, can be anything from stone or besser block or timber. These element will be what you can afford to do, the stone and besser are the most expensive of the 3 but require the less maintenance and last the longest. Timber can be low cost, but has the tendency to decay over time and has a life span of no longer then 5-8 year, depending on environmental conditions. A retaining wall of that height of 1.5m, tend to need a engineering spec to built and so my advise is to go for the besser as it the cheaper then stone. if your are concern on look of the besser, it can dressed up with stone looking tile or there a number of option to go for. is to get the costing of doing a multi level home design. This can be costly too depend on if it going to be slab or bears and joist home, as the cost differ and different type of process have to happen. You got to ask yourself, is my house raise of the ground or is a slab that sit directly on the ground. to put it to you as simple as I can, for a slab need steel and pier to be dug and so on, so if this is the case then with your current house is siting on a cut and fill which is common for this type of slab construction. Where a Bearers and joist system sit on top of a raised pier that come off the ground. this is what a lot of the older style home have, the only thing about this not a lot of builder and trades people do not how to do this as it a dying art of constructing house. final option is to do a raise slab which raises like a retaining wall but in face bricks and a slab is pore on top but not seen form the outside and the face bricks continues As for the design of your house it all up to what you want for a house, you have to ask yourself can I use this for the long term or is something I want rather then need. Sometime we over compensate for thing and the saying in design is less tends to be best. a flowing design is a happy one and can be more of a chore to go with something that is wanted then needed. A little tip for your kitchen, make shore that the sink, stove and fridge are in a triangle form from each other as this flow the best when cooking. Any tip of knowledge on retaining wall just send me a message

horizontal anything is a no, the gap would have to be so small it might as well be solid. yes the vertical cable might pass but you are not allowed to be able to squeeze them together as then the gap distance is non complying, The safest one is the solid section PCA pool fence, or glass, or solid, to 1200 mm in Queensland, no greater than 100 mm off ground, and gaps not able to be manipulated, and to stop that you have to have horizontal section in the cable type, which then do not comply, cut metal screens if complying is OK. I would question the void, and if you know the reason for the void, than solutions will be able to be worked out, now we are asking why? Pools in adjoining yards are acceptable with pool fencing complying on both sides, no void is required. so the void sound a bit iffy, unless it is something to do with storm water, or a building requirement, so ask the question why. Pool fencing can be awesome.

Simon, 100% agree with OKlouise, she's on the right track..... I've done a stack of these types of things.....big projects, that call for professional solutions....what I would say as a start is that there are always various ways of achieving your needs. It's not just about the rooms, it about the quality of the spaces, the proportioning their connection/relationship to both the adjacent internal and external areas.....I'm guessing from the floor plan you have a lovely older home with some traditional character...depending upon your needs for the rear yard (pool??) I see opportunities here for alternative configurations that would open this thing up and let more natural/north light into the main living/kitchen areas.....if you want my 2 cents I think for a home of this scale no you shouldn't have to pop through the kitchen to get to the study...a study nook within a kitchen is OK but as a differentiated room that could potentially be used for other purpose (always good for the property value factor ;) )....its ALL in the planning, there's a lot of money involved here so make sure you get it right and if it doesn't "feel" right, then there's an issue.....clearly here you have priorities and vision for your study, and that's great, so make sure you get it right and that the outlook is how you want it to be - so it should, it's yours!.....but it's not a simple as just swapping the spaces around/over...floor plans are delicately balanced and carefully considered/arranged and when resolved properly/professionally they will just sit there and be unquestionably "right", appropriately scaled & proportioned, not awkward, representative of your specific requirements/priorities and balanced within the particular context....