I just love your timber tiles and specially seemingly without grout in Hough indoors you maybrequire for cleaning though not necessarily level with tiles.

Thinking you might continue these timber tiles outside for you decking for flowing look though without any grout to further emulate timber. I personally would use these tiles outside in my home...great look!

garden beds would look good in raised original railway sleeps at least three high or more to double as seating. They would authentic tiles timber decking.

Faux grass just fine! Should all look great! Good luck!

Victoria Ross

Designer

So many "little" details that are easily overlooked, especially with your first home. Takes years of experience and generally big fails to be aware of them so this site is great to be able pass on lessons learned.

What are you planning for the area outside the kitchen? That does not look too small an area.

There are many tropical plants and shrubs that are easy to maintain, won't mind the heat and always look lovely and lush. Prepare your garden beds well with quality soil and fertiliser, mulch well after planting is done and you should have a pretty minimal garden. If time is a factor, consider installing an automatic/timed watering system too. Check out your local garden centres for plants that will flourish in your area - you can pick up a lot of help and advice from them. You can often get help with planning and planting suggestions too.

I understand the time factor mowing grass but I am really concerned about the artificial grass with the dogs, I've read dogs need to eat grass to help with their digestion - perhaps check with a local vet.

https://pets.webmd.com/dogs/why-do-dogs-eat-grass#1

Lawn mowing services are not overly expensive or maybe you might find a local teenager needing some pocket money. I don't mow lawns either.

I like the raised garden beds too, they keep an area cleaner and neater and making access to the garden for any maintenance much easier - just be careful using timber - it can harbour spiders. I lost my little dachshund to a red back spider.

That will be handy having open space opposite you and an off-lead area could be a possibility - dog owners are always calling for this. If you don't succeed initially, once you move in you can check out local dog owners and collectively approach the Council - numbers helps. Depends on what else they might have planned. Good luck with that.

Consulting professionals can be hard when the budget is tight but sometimes the savings getting things right the first time are worth it.

Good luck with it all and let us know how it all turns out. When do you hope to move in?

Ali - here is an option, no price though :))

https://auto-robot.com.au/robot-lawn-mowers/

Think about your priorities for now and later. Example: I removed rustic looking, roughly laid brick paving and tree ferns, and put in flat concrete pavers. This flat paved area proved suitably for bbqs and sitting around an outdoor table. However there was a lot of radiated heat and plants got scorched and the hard surface was not dog friendly (my dog preferred to lie in softer garden beds). Later I took up the pavers in favour of low groundcover and plants; the area is now cooler and kinder for plants, pets, birdlife.

olldroo - our house construction should hopefully start early next month, the pool is being installed at the end of this month provided there's no hiccups. I saw those robot mowers! I currently have a robot vac for the house, and our pool also comes with a robot cleaner. I love my gadgets.

rwalton5 - this is definitely our forever house, so you're right I will have to keep our pets and future kids in mind. We do like to entertain a lot, so the right side of the yard we wanted to make a bbq area with furniture and a dining area. My partner also wants to grow his own herbs and veggies, but we're going to do that in portable raised beds/pods so they can be moved around if the weather is bad or if we want to make room for parties.

Victoria Ross - Thank you :) I'm not sure if those tiles would be durable enough for outside but you have definitely given me some ideas about a seating area.

Hi Ali I just have one comment/tip about having poured concrete aggregate around the pool. We've just remodelled our pool and love the look of the concrete aggregate BUT I strongly suggest you have it honed (made smooth). And you must do this BEFORE you fill up the pool. We had a very messy & expensive situation after realising the poured concrete aggregate was way too rough to have around the edge of a pool - think scraped skin, tears in swimsuits, delicate children's feet not wanting to walk on it. Even the sealing product on the original concrete didn't help with softening.

Hi Ali,

I couldn't go past your question without offering some advice. I agree with all of the above. I had a big paved courtyard laid in my backyard about 7 years ago. At the time, I thought this is great for little kids to learn to ride scooters etc. Now I can't wait to rip it up and go back to grass. The pavers are cream and are annoyingly VERY reflective in summer. The back of the house is so hot in summer because of the increased heat, but that's not the worst of it. We have a dog that barks at every magpie or kookaburra that sits on one of the boundary fences. The pavers really do make her bark seem so much louder as it bounces off the brick house as well. Dogs need grass. You will find toilet training for the dogs so much easier and less confusing for them, if they have soft grass under their paws. Also, I have noticed from time to time my dog loves rolling around in it and when her tummy might feel a bit off because she has tried to catch a lizard, (that hides under the pot plants), she always turns to eating a bit of grass and then she feels better.

Also do consider drainage, it is the difference not only for muddy areas but importantly, good drainage will simply "look after" the foundations of your house. In the nicest possible way I would say have a "re-think". Good luck with your decisions.