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.

Although we have very deep eaves and lovely large decks, we don't actually have proper shade at our new house so that we can enjoy the outdoor living. Trying to resolve this. Thinking about a big shade sail further away from house where we have a big table and chairs, and perhaps decorative metal panels attached to either the roof or wall cladding on the west deck. The sun is harshest during afternoons to sunset and so far we cannot use this deck for '5 o'clock somewhere' drinks.

congratulations for thinking about this detail, such a shame to pay for extra wide windows that are always covered by curtains... the size of the wall space needed to pull the curtains free of the window is called the "stack back" and is affected by the thickness of the curtain fabric...with very thick curtains including separate liners we've allowed between 45cm-60cm on both sides of our windows (up to about 5m wide) and the effect is excellent although, for some windows and a sliding door, it was better to pull the curtain in only one direction with a 60cm stack back on one side ...and, depending on your climate all those extra wide windows could be very hot in summer so it might be worth considering having taller narrower windows where the top section can be shaded by overhanging eaves but still let in light and opened for ventilation and also consider Solar Sylights for very economical extra dayight without creating a hole in the roof and compromising roof insulation and, the idea of being able to draw the curtains into an enclosed space is interesting but would involve building an extra wall to create the gap and would be a problem if/when a curtain hook breaks and there's no access

I love Julie's ideas of succulents , especially the pics with several different ones in the same pot . As far as the grey , I wouldn't -- you look like you like colour and excitement , so I'd go yellow on the pots -- a similar or slightly brighter shade then the cushion on the couch or chair to the left . It would tie it all in , and make that lovely mat look more like a feature too IMO . Without knowing 'the bigger picture' ( what else is 'happening' around that wall ) , just what I see I'd be inclined to add a light either side of the door too -- stick to the same shade as the joinery ( personally , I'd go for a 'clean rustic; style with say 15 squares each side ) , or if brave ( and assuming the guttering etc is probably a similar charcoal as your door joinery ? ) , go for the same yellow as your pots -- add a Wow !