Thank you. I have another quandary.....no pics....but the whole length of the back of my house has a pergola covered in alternating laser lite and colourbond. The underneath area has a floor of concrete, with limited drainage, the garden is slopes upwards from this,but has been cut away to form a tier and this flat verandah area. I find this area gets dusty, cobwebby, attracts mossies and flies. I have thought about removing all roofing material and opening it up but am worried I'll have too much exposed in the event of big down pours. Any ideas?

One suggestion I'd make - shelves above a bed are very hard to reach, without standing on the bed. There are many beds though that fold up into a wall cabinet, so take up the thickness of a mattress/frame when folded up. It also makes for a tidier office when it's not a guest room. You may have to hunt for a fold-out that hinges on the long side - most are hinged on the short side (i.e. hinge under the pillow). If you can't find the right unit you might be able to swap with the shelves behind the door, or on the opposite far wall. You'd then have to rejig the other shelves you want above the bed, or move the bed unit the depth of the shelves out from the wall, or rotate it 90 degrees to parallel the wall to the credenza. I'm trying to work out exactly the same problem in my study as we speak :-) albeit with a different floorplan. Good luck!

Thanks everyone so far. Only hesitation with glass (or a white-grey tinted glass) is that it might be a bit glarey with the spotlights above, but will definitely consider it! Cheers Annb, my father built the whole room including the cabinet :). The cd shelves are from IKEA. The metal strips you see are just over-door clothes hooks you can pick up for around $10ea. They just slide on top of any old door and are not bolted on in any way. We are going to install a rail inside to convert this to more of a wardrobe. The room dimensions are actually 3.8 x 3.7, but the width of the wall pictured is more around 2.7 because of the cabinet & bricks. Behind the curtain is a double sliding door with windows and optional external access. Same on opposite wall (which is more important to access.. and has nice views, hence the current, slightly awkward bed placement..) The pocket door is to what will be an ensuite. Main internal access is opposite, or external through the sliding door (marked with arrows in the second pic). The mezzanine is 1.4 wide, with sloping ceiling overhead. Could technically fit that king single up there, just, but the bed will probably be upgraded to a double bed soon enough. It's just storage on the mezzanine for now, but brainstorming... thought it could be used as a reading retreat or put that bed up there for guests once the double bed (thinking IKEA's Malm with the under-bed storage drawers). Just one young adult (20s) using the room. Between the wardrobe, drawers, sideboard and mezzanine there is plenty enough storage space. Drawers and sideboard will stay as is, but we are hoping to use this side of the room more wisely! A bit of a quirky space to get right! Thanks for your help everyone :) :).

The outdoor office: Over the years we have been asked to design within our garden rooms the addition of an outdoor office. It is becoming more and more common for the self-employed and company employees to work from home as appose to that mandatory 1 + hour drive to the office. Rather than locking up a room that really isn’t a practical office space within your homes current structure, think about your garden and the ability of designing an office within the folds of the garden. If you consider all the elements associated with a garden office there is absolutely no reason for not creating this practical area. I mention ‘considering the elements’ and note a few obvious and not so obvious aspects below to be thrown into the design mix to see if they are of relevance or not. For the obvious elements think about : o power supply and the safety of o internet access o natural light and air o workable spaces for desks/worktops, meeting facilities (formal or informal), o usable kitchen facilities o sanatory facilities for both sexes o storage of materials For the items that may not seemingly be thought as obvious: o ease of persons coming for meetings etc and thinking about the pathway needed to get to you outside of walking through your home o doorbell / intercom facilities o parking o waiting area o ability of having an office pet as always a great ice breaker and helping soften those serious moments o house plants to soften the inside and outside Always consider if there are any conditions placed upon this form of structure and by contacting your local council, they will be able to point you in the right direction. Me personally the beauty of such a working space is the ability to grab a coffee and wonder out of the office into the abutting garden rooms just to let meu think laterally about a project I may be working on. If this is something you would like to investigate further do not hesitate to contact myself at chris@scenicbluedesign.com.auor give me a call on my direct number 0405 663222 www.scenicbluedesign.com.au