It is way too time consuming, even worse than this website. I'm lucky my dd being in the States brings me out fabulous stuff at a fraction of the price here. I am actually expected to keep up and I send her photos of what I have done - the ones she really likes she copies to save her heaps of time. Try to keep the written memories and milestones, they are the things you forget the fastest, just a notebook does and when you get time down the track you can put it all together. DD made me laugh, she was so confident once the eldest started school she would have sooooooo much time and there would be far less activities to photo......... ha!! she is busier than ever she helps out at school, there is some family activity every week and Miss 6 has become involved in so many after school activities - piano, art, Girl Scouts, soccer, baseball, basketball, swimming plus play dates and parties, DD's feet hardly touch the ground. As well there are always family and friends travelling and visiting.

Something like silver birch trees don't take up too much room but will provide some height and interest. Personally I pick out natives, after asking local garden centres for those which are natural to my area. I've used black mondo grass across the front of my walls with purple fountain grass behind it. The fountain grass really takes the summer heat, doesn't need much water and self-seeds. It's grown slightly taller than me after a few years. I have, what I call a 'survival of the fittest' garden. Over the years, I've experimented with all sorts of plants. Eventually, only those that survive with little help, and almost no extraneous watering, get to stay. One of the key things I did when planting out my garden was to dig down into the soil and lay a mat of used, natural-blend carpet underlay (not the more synthetic types used these days). Just ask someone getting rid of their old carpet- it's easy to come across. Above the carpet underlay I added water crystals, then put the soil back on top. After the gardens have been established, I haven't need to get the hose out since. I do have lots of succulents around the place, some native plants and ornamental grasses. I hope this helps.

Hi Debbie, Just adding to your dilemma, until recently we had lovely offices in Sydney with each room having one wall of full height sliding doors, with wonderful day time views and night time lights. We installed very nice manual Roller blinds for when privacy was needed, but I still wasn't happy with the look either day or night. I love the lovely soft curtains that Mel n suggested but hubby wouldn't be happy as there would n't be any privacy at night unless they had a separate lining. So saying that I still think internal "Plantation" shutters that bi fold across the openings would really add something to your open plan room, I was also thinking sliding stacking panels, you could ask a local supplier to come out and discuss. These shutters are larger and easier to clean. I'am adding some more photos for you. On another note, I hope Debbie doesn't mind my mentioning this but Debbie suffered damage to her home at the hands of her name sake "Cyclone Debbie", when a very large neighbours tree fell down on her property causing a lot of damage, very hard to see your hard work ripped apart. You will get there again Debbie xx The large Plantation shutters look the best to me You mentioned new ceilings etc this could be done if you were having curtains Your view with undercover outdoor area added

One last thing, I’m very grateful to all who have contributed. Last year I posted a picture of the front of my house and was canvassing ideas and someone mentioned attaching a white pergola and we went ahead and did it! It completely changed the style and dimension of the house facade and I would have NEVER thought of the idea myself so thank you so much Houzz contributors!