I have miles of decking at two houses. All timber when put in the Australian sun will suffer. When building our beach house we decided to go for Spotted Gum and let it grey. Why fight it? We applied Cutek, and will on a regular basis. At our main house we have lots of Merabu or Quilla. Will not grey the same, and leaches lots of red stain. Cheap, but would not use again. What ever you use, use a good quality oil that seeps deep into the wood not a traditional stain/or top finishing product.

Depending on the size of the area you can use a variety of clumping bamboos in the landscape. We have a relatively small backyard, think most new housing estates do these days and I wanted something relatively tall but have small culm diameters. Needles to say we went for the ever popular Slender Weavers where the max culm diameter ranges from 25mm to 35mm at heights of 6m to 8m. They grow fast too, we planted 22 of them 8 months ago with an average height of 1.5m and most of them are about 3m. Some of the other species with bigger culms are like the Oldhamii and Buddha's Belly where they reach up 100mm in diameter. For the most part they're planted in rows and mostly for screening purposes but I've seen growers mix and match such as planting the taller Timor Black Bamboo (12m - 16m) at the back of the Slender Weavers followed by the shorter Himalayan Weeping Bamboo and/or Fargesia Fortuna. I'm also not opposed to the idea of incorporating running bamboo into landscapes as they have their own charm such as more delicate looking foliage and straighter stems from the ground as a result of them spreading out their rhizomes to larger areas before shooting upwards. Most common varieties is the Golden Cane Bamboo or Black Bamboo. You can usually tell if a species is a running bamboo by looking out for a flat side alternating between each node along the canes. Hope that helps...

I am no expert, but it appears (from the wood, shape and handles) to be a danish teak dresser - they date from around the mid-late fifties and sixties. Don't think they are particularly rare (check for makers mark eg) Borge Mogensen/Sorborg Mobler?), but they are lovely, and very on-trend (similar new version by West Elm sells for $1099). Didn't find one exactly like yours on ebay, but similar vintage ones listed start at around AU $550-$600 and go up from there. A great thrifting find!

Thanks for the ideas - I realise that only looking at flooring as the 'link' between inside/outside is limiting. We will have a brick boundary fence that will connect to our inside brick (but don't want brick pavers, too small and busy for our small space). We will also have a timber pergola that links to our beams/doors/flooring. So perhaps it's not essential that the pavers 'match' the flooring. I do like Travertine, and certainly large pavers are the idea. Also that pic that Swaneee posted - I would never have thought of that as 'slabs of cement', but it looks nice - where do you get that kind of thing, and what sort of cost? PS: I never said twin boys, it's one boy and one girl - but just the same in terms of pebbles being out!