Ok are we talking architectural designer or interior designer? Architects are more about lines and form and they grumble about the interior designers but that's who they hire to do the color boards. Either way you are the client and it's your house. It may be a great color scheme for the design but if you don't like it change it. Those sample of paint are worth every penny because you need to see more than a little chip. With your asymmetrical design you have room to vary more than the usual field or base color and a contrasting trim. I'd make a tracing of the design and copy a bunch of pages of it to use as a coloring book. (yes use crayolas:-) Another shade from the same shale grey paint chip and a one more accent color would be a good bet. If you are going subtle neutral, make it 3( not 50) shades of grey and play with where you put the darks and lights. Remember sunlight and shadows will create alot of contrast for even a "pale monochrome houses. (the computer rendering doesn't give you that.) You could add a pop a smoky teal, plum or coral if you want color as bold as you design. These would just be accents or trim. If shale grey it a really light silver you could make a monochromatic scheme with blue grays and a navy blue door and trim. The tan/beige in the rendering needs a darker grey to work. I would keep my midtone color on the lower level and a lighter shade on the second level. The top part that pop out could be a bolder accent color withe rest of the upper level almost white. Lot depends on your roof and window frames and whether you want them to blend in or pop out. Try a bunch out on paper or one of the computer programs before choosing any changes.

I share your exasperation! We have a large garden with clay soil at our place in sydney and limited budget to redo the whole thing! With 2 kids and work it's hard to keep the backyard looking good. I've found that lilli Pillis worked a treat for screening and grew quickly ie within 2 years were at fence height ( 50cm when planted ) though it looks like you have some hedges growing that may be these already? There are more tree like versions of lilli pillis eg waterhousia floribunda see picture - it's grown over 2 meters in 1.5 years now almost 4m tall and starting to throw shade. We lost a heap of shade when our large Blum gum was removed due to safety reasons. Another option might be a baby citro gum tree? For general landscaping I also love purple fountain grass another plant that really thrives in our climate. Gets to about 1.6m tall and looks very pretty when there is a breeze and they are nice and soft for kids. Agapanthus are another plant we cat seem to kill, and they flower all spring and summer. I often take a look and see what the council plants in the area, usually gives me an idea of what is likely to grow and not require excessive maintenance. There is a fair bit of trial and error some things that look great just can't cope with my low/zero maintenance strategy I now order plants from a wholesale nursery as retail prices can be a budget killer. Also IKEA have good freestanding umbrellas, works well and was cost effective, casts a large amount of shade and can be moved around the garden if needed. The lawn is a bit of maintenance but speaking from experience if you don't have to water it then mowing is probably easier than garden beds, I haven't yet found a way to really stop weeds, so that might be a consideration. Hope the tips are helpful.

Have you thought about wallpaper? feature walls? Our wallpaper peals on and peals off with easy. You can do it yourself without fuss or extra cost. We also custom make our designs to your chose of colour and size for free.

Wise words anonymousanne. Thanks all for your helpful advice so far . We have a 3-5 year plan I guess our priority will be creating 3 cosy bedrooms, with fresh paint, carpet and blinds ......not sure if they will be the existing bedrooms..or whether we will take the lounge as the master. A dilemma how much to do in the bathrooms.... Flat pack kitchen, appliances paint etc...It would be cheapest in the kitchen to replace the Existing L only...but I do like oklouise and siruiskys suggestions for the kitchen dining areas in the plans that have been drawn. I will get a builder friend to take a look structurally for now..still hoping to open the back up a bit more, for better internal flow of the house, so we can enjoy living there while we save to do major works