LED lighting has made such a difference to how you can illuminate your home now and they give excellent light so you don't need the number of downlights as before. Strip lighting on stairs, for example, can look amazing and add wow to your home. Be guided by the experts above, or a good electrician should be able to give you practical advice. In some rooms one downlight can even be enough if you plan on having other feature lighting. Pendant lights for your bedroom will look great, but look at what wattage the lights you choose will take and whether you will need any other lights in the room. I have always been very minimalist in my home and try to keep to one light in each room for general access lighting and have alternative feature lighting for atmosphere. For example, I just have one LED downlight over my desk in my bedroom for when I'm working and a lamp each side of my bed for other times, and this is all I need. In my lounge room, I put two pendants, hung at different lengths in one corner of the room as a feature and I have two table lamps for when extra light is needed, but for watching TV or just generally entertaining and relaxing, the two pendants on their own are enough. Like you say, nothing is worse than over lighting a room, it totally loses any atmosphere. Your home theatre for example, could only need two downights for when you need a good light for cleaning and such, otherwise for general use, some wall sconces will give subtle lighting to the room. Have the two types of lights on separate switches naturally. One important thing I always suggest people be mindful of in work areas especially is to place lights so you don't work in your own shadow. One example is the kitchen sink or hotplates - put the light slightly to one side for better visibility.

I would hire a local landscape designer who will work with you to come up with a plan including pool location. They are quite cheap really and great value. You don't need a $15,000 set of landscape plans just some basic plans with plants, pool and cabana locations noted. Then have a local draftsman prepare the lot for council. The rectangular pools always look a bit bland on paper but once installed and landscaped they are still the preferred choice for me. I would look at other options away from glass, way too much cleaning! A standard pool handrail will work equally as well or perhaps use individual recycled hardwood timber posts in ground spaced apart to comply local regulations. I would say that would suit your already great garden and tie in with the Lomandra's. On a side note, find where the services run.... sewer lines, easements, etc.

we can't read the dimensions on the plans but it appears that the block isn't flat so the placement of access to the rear is affected by the slope and the reason for access...do you want/need to have an extra garage with driveway into the far back yard or just vehicle access for occasional gardening or pool maintenance? and this plan has the most exposure to the east and west which, depending on your climate, can be the most challenging to manage ...are there any changes possible to the plan or have you considered other plans for this block?

I would recommend that you have a discussion with a professional with knowledge of natural swimming pools as there may be a chance that you can convert your existing pool. It seems that the shelf lends itself to planting ( with a bit of adjustment). You could potentially add some deeper level water plants in areas outside the perimeter of the pool if this is required to provide the full filtration environment for a natural pool. Access can be via a timber platform to traverse the shelf area. The waterfall area would be much less of an eye sore once integrated with plants and some clever placement of rocks. I think you have a very exciting opportunity here to create something special.