The most kid and pet friendly couch material is leather. So far our blue leather couch has coped with 18 years of toddlers falling asleep and weeing on it, cat vomit, Easter eggs melting between the cushions, spilt milk, spilt orange juice, spilt red wine, spilt coffee, and muddy dog paws. It just wipes clean. Our white leather chair is just as durable and is now 24 years old and just starting to look grubby. So go with beige or cream if you want. It would be a lovely choice, just make sure it is leather. Black or mid or dark brown would also look lovely with that beautiful rug but I think lighter colours would look fresher. Don't be at all scared to use light coloured leather.

Hi Hamish, these planters are very cool! Great potential here. - from what I can see; your home has brown and red tones, it depends on the look you are trying to achieve - however if you were aiming to integrate these planters into the existing colour pallet I would go for something with orange, brown, or red undertones - I know orange sounds frightening! Bare in mind that colours look very different when under direct sunlight, or dark shadows cast by trees etc.. Before painting it's always wise to do a test on a piece of thick paper or cardboard; see how it looks in morning light, afternoon sun, dim light at dusk, and so on... What is the light like at your place? If your home doesn't get much sun I would go for a lighter colour (lighter greys with brown undertones) to bounce off the sunlight that does reach it. A darker colour (browns, oranges) would add impact, a focal point, and would boast the greenery, as the natural colours from your plants would be intensified against a darker backdrop. I have outlined some colours that would look well balanced with the rest of your exterior - Good luck! - I look forward to seeing an update

We have been building our house for over two years now. The supply chain downturn has made it a nightmare. We are camping on the mezzanine floor of our warehouse so it isn't costing us to wait, but if I had rented a property while building we would be in trouble now. I purchased most of our plumbing supplies early in the build so at least those items have not gone up in price, but many others have. We ordered and paid for a cantilever pool awning in February this year, and it was sent in three lots. The last delivery was two weeks ago. I suspect the company was having a hard time getting it out of China, so not their fault. We had quotes for fly screens/security screens that totalled over $25,000. We had to forgo the security screens in favour of fly screens for most of the house. We had a quote for a large aluminium mesh panel to place on the front left corner of the house which was over $25,000 also. The fencing company got an order wrong and we ended up with the wrong colour louvre panels on the front driveway sliding gates, plus the wrong colour for a fence. We have managed to turn it into a positive by keeping the wrong coloured louvre blades, and they will now be put up vertically on the front corner of the house, instead of the aluminium mesh. They are six metres long, but the house is two stories, so all good. We had to keep the gate panels the same, so the wrong colour will have to be exchanged for the right colour. People are still building houses here, and some of them are going up very fast, so I don't understand why ours has taken so long. We have purchased most of the goods locally, but I suppose the suppliers are having trouble getting them from overseas. I am at the point where I am losing interest in this house, which is a shame because it will be a beautiful house when finished.

I had a few thoughts, probably too many. Why ASAP? Which way does it face? For eample does it get a lot of western exposure, lots of sun especially in the afternoon? What do you want shaded? Cubby, lawn for playing, oudoor entertaining, all of it? What is rubber wet pour? What's in the pots, are those the suggested murraya and box? Do you like them? How wide do you want the garden bed, or to put it another way, how much of the lawn area do you want to keep and how much does that leave around the edge? Is it now flat or do you need to have some kind of retaining wall again? Or will a gentle slop do the trick? Grass will struggle if there's too much shade. Supposedly some varieties tolerate it better. Even with that original hedge it doesn't look like there a serious lack of sun? It looks more like no decent soil and the area was maybe used for parking? It's a shame the hedge wasn't kept pruned. So when planning a replacement, you need to consider maintenance, otherwise eventually you'll have a similar problem, an overgrown hedge. I have to say the Murraya and box suggestion sounds very nice but formal, which means regular clipping. If you're not up for that much yardwork an informal hedge consisting of plants that do not naturally grow very large might be a better choice. And some trees for shade. But that's where even more planning is needed, to get the shade where needed without making the whole lawn too shaded to grow well, deciduous if you want more sunlight in winter, check for underground utilities and avoid anything with invasive roots. It sounds like a lot to think about but it's doable, it can be fixed. I came back to finish what I'd started writing and I see bigreader has posted lots of good advice. I agree, don't heap soil against the fence. Unless you are sure you are planting something really hardy it is worth improving the soil, and even with the plants labelled hardy and tolerates eveything I've found the same plant will grow better where the soil is better.