We have miles of decking at our house here in Brisbane and at our new holiday house. We just love natural hardwood. I have learned the hard way not to use a stain or finish that puts a surface on top of the timber. Such products are very common and are most of the common brands. They deteriorate fast and are a real bugger to refinish. I have now discovered Cutek oils which so far are going great, and are so early to just apply another coat.

Hi Nicole you dont have to spend a lot of money to have a good, thriving garden. The whole landscape industry in Australia, needs regulation. It is out of control in my opinion with ridiculous unsustainable designs that are grossly overpriced. The sustainable way to ameliorate the slope to the house - hard to tell the degree of slope in the photo, is with a bobcat with laser. You may need two flat areas - a top and bottom. The area in-between could be addressed with a curved wall of rocks that would act as the retaining wall. (Much better than a concrete rendered wall that is totally unsustainable). These rocks will then dictate the type of garden, namely a native garden on 2 levels. I would have thought that the drop would only be about 30cm. Is this so as it's hard to tell? I feel that natives would complement your home, including a few trees in the mix. The choice will depend on where north is, and the type of soil that you have. Also where the house is I.e. Qld or Vic. But I would steer clear of any hard landscaping. As a sustainable expert, I also do not use decking other than a verandah attached to the home. We need to learn to do without and manage more efficiently. This way we end up with real gardens full of plants that then attract birds and wildlife. Children in particular love sustainable, proper gardens. Alison

assuming that you will be painting the walls i would allow at least equal to a large living area for co st of varnish and materials to do the stairs..it will be a fiddly job and to get the best result takes extra time and would be a shame to compromise on the quality of the finish although would n't be that difficult to DIY but would need lots of time for preparation for filling nails holes and sanding in between coats with at least two coats of varnish and i would allow at least 3-days labour and a there are numerous wardrobe companies in Melbourne so unless you want a high end custom finish a few quote will provide a base line to consider and/or test some of the online wardrobe systems eg IKEA or Kaboodle for price of materials and then add several days labour for assembly and installation and your builder should be able to suggest suitable options as it's often cheaper for them to organise these extras than to pay for them separately

One step at a time. Do painting as planned then sit back and look. You might decide the fresh timber is a great complement to the grey.