Hi Tina, thanks for posting, it is all looking great. Shame about the panelling, but sometimes these things happen for a reason. It is great the armoire matches the doors so well when they are all on one wall, but I don't think you need to have the bed and side tables matching, especially when they are on another wall. My issue with painting furniture, while I love it, is the maintenance. It does chip over time and becomes one more thing to paint. I don't know what the timber is in your furniture but another possible option, especially to give you the coastal vibe is to lime it. To do this successfully, you will need to sand all the existing stain off it and go back to the raw timber. The darker the original timber, the less limed look you will get so bear that in mind too. I did an old bunk bed up that had seen better days, for my grands bedroom. It was a dark red wood, but with 4 coats of stain I got the look I was after which was that driftwood/coastal look. The whole thing looks totally new again. Sorry I can't post a photo as this function no longer works for me. Have a look at the Feast Watson range of liming stains, they have some gorgeous soft colours as well, but they let the timber show through rather than having the solid painted look. It is a very easy product to use, it dries quickly - I did the 4 coats over 2 days effortlessly. The hard work is in the sanding.

On closer inspection I've determined the north facing windows (30º west) don't need extra shading, but the easterly kitchen & laundry need exterior vertical drop blinds, the morning Queensland sun has plenty of bite. The south & south-west bay windows need partial angled exterior blinds, but will include the south-east bay for symmetry. One westerly Master window sharing a corner with a southerly ensuite window I considered a small shade sail, but as there is a garden bed there I think maybe a horizontal slat panel as a frame for climbing plant, hinged for maintenance access & climbers rooted at the hinge side(s). Finally a fixed decorative screen outside a westerly garage window near the front door.

It might be worth looking further into breeze / besser blocks. This company in Melbourne - http://www.breezeblocks.com.au/ or this one in Sydney - http://www.besserblockcentre.com.au/bellevue_hill_blocks.html create custom blocks. The pool safety requirements have certain dimensions to follow, so maybe you can have your dream feature wall while still abiding by the regulations. For example you could have blocks with a vertical or other pattern that did not allow for foot or hand holds. For example:

Well now after reading all these posts, I have a dilemma. We would like to maximize the practicality of the deep and soft closing drawers. Corner drawers, the under sink u-shaped drawers etc. Thirty five years ago (yep that's right 35 yrs) when our budget did not allow us to buy new, we bought a dismantled u-shaped show-room demonstration timber kitchen. For years it was blonde pine. Solid pine benchtops, re-sanded and stained a couple of times. Then my husband painted all the solid timber doors with antique white USA marine paint which has worn well. New satin knobs (that have not worn as well) Now it's becoming a little 'shabby chic'. We thought of a complete reno. But we have no space to enlarge on the 3x3 metres. and new 'plastic' kitchens somehow seem less durable than our existing old one. Sink, stove and fridge in the recommended triangle floorplan. So what to do? Our pantry is in the corner with shelves that items at the back of are inaccessible. The microwave is the perfect shoulder level. The cabinets allow me to display favourite tins, crockery and vintage scales. Being a split level house I need the broom cupboard and ironing board stored close at hand.