If you're part of a couple, decorating can be about building a home environment you are both pleased with. Fortunately this is often easy as attraction is imbued with shared loves and admiration - you like the same things or you admire and adore the person and so what they like reminds you of your adoration, even if it isn't something you personally enjoy. But as you're both doing it, the decoration and features become about both of you. So for me, my own space is about those bits of me it would be unfair to impose on shared space - the obsessions, the fanboy stuff, the spreadeagled hobbies. In the house we might choose my photos that reflect our love of our current environment, while in my space the subject matter might be what I call my "boring photos" (the one's people want to ask "Why the hell did you take that?"). Likewise in my space I can spread the gear-obsession with photography over all available surfaces. And my books... I need bookcases for my eclectic tastes, leaving the more generic and shared-useful books in the shared spaces. But mostly, my space needs to have space for the person I share my life with. Yes, the area is filled with self-interest, but I need a space where my partner can come in, maybe with a laptop or a book or an iPad if they want to entertain themselves, and themselves relax, maybe two chairs & a coffee table, maybe a clear spot next to me on a long desk, maybe their own carved-out bit of space where they can just be, but all somewhere they want to be. Because, yes, I want to be alone, yes, as a reclusive, introverted person I sometimes need "clear air", but I would never want any space I occupy to have such low "WAF" (ugh, ~vomits~) that it would isolate me from the actual or potential presence of the one person sufficiently and deeply empathetic with me that they'd give me this "man space" within "our space". And I'd sure as hell do the same back.

We are non-drinkers in our house so we just use peaches and jelly with jam roll and topped with custard and cream. This photo shows Amaretti biscuits crushed on top with white chocolate and raspberries. Who cares if its a sloppy mess in the bowl, the flavour combinations are to die for!

The characteristics of the Queenslander house makes it the most iconic domestic building type constructed as well as being one of the signature's of Australian architecture. The sub-tropical residential architecture of Brisbane is acknowledged as the most original and distinctive of all the Australia cities. Owning an old Queenslander is a challenging task to meet our modern living requirements. Old houses have to be dealt with a sensitive & intelligent skill to adapt to today’s living. Our client owns a 1920’s Queenslander on a hill at Brisbane’s bayside. The land size is a standard double lot at 810sq.m, facing West. The original house was one level house with two bedrooms, one bathroom, T-shape living room and kitchen. The lower section of the house was semi enclosed for laundry and storage. Around 1930 the previous owner enlarged the house foot print by enclosing the south side verandah and building a new full length north side verandah. This alteration had created an odd room in the middle of the house which also acted as the passage to the north side new verandah. The house was tired, rundown and overall foot print of the house is not sufficient for the couple for living and home office. Our client decided to reconfigure the interior layout, and to open up the back of the house. How did we restore the original house facade? (*Note that it was important for the client to restore & correctly detail the front facade as the house is in a character streetscape recognised by the council) *Restoration of the front facade involved the removal of all casement windows and awnings for complete stripping and painting & reinstating. *Ugly plastic drainpipes and guttering were replaced with new charcoal colorbond gutters and pipes. Attention to detail involved the relocation of down pipes to be set back from the front facade to ensure the clean look of the entrance. *Verandah bat wing doors were installed at the top of the stair to emphasise the entrance and provide security. *Removal of 1970’s external window screens to unveil all windows to their original beauty of the house *Replacement of the rusted TL-5 square rib old profile roof with the new S-Rib corrugated roof *Repaint the entire house in a clean cut monotone colour scheme. FRONT FACADE: BEFORE AFTER: BACK FACADE: BEFORE DURING CONSTRUCTION framework of the addition section AFTER SIDE FACADE BEFORE DURING CONSTRUCTION The framework of the addition section at the far end of this photo AFTER How did we plan the addition at the back yard seamless joining the original section -Why we created the seamless new open plan extension? The existing old house had no connection or view to the large back garden. The sea breezes were blocked with fixed glazing & one single door led to a low roofed deck. -Why we did not raise the house to double storey on the original foot print? The site is on a double sloping low hill which would have required extensive excavation, retaining walls & drainage. Compromised excavated outside zones leading from the side elevations would have created poorly naturally lit rooms along with inefficient air flow. This house does not require air conditioning. The double storey would have required repeat height new internal and back deck staircases. -Why we did not clear and bulldoze the back yard for new landscaping? After a 50 year old feature tree fell over, the back yard was planted with native indigenous SE Queensland trees 10 years ago. This has now formed a back drop of native greenery which is now being enhanced with further planting to create the best coastal eco-system. A double front colorbond shed was recycled & is now repositioned in a happy neighbours backyard. We will share the interior part in next post. Keep watching. www.8designlab.com.au

I can't understand some of the expressions either . I gather your house is about 4 foot above the backyard , and has a deck . You are on a corner section , so reading between the lines , do you want the deck to be private , or the backyard ? If you said 'Both' ( backyard and deck ) and I'm right with the measurements , you'd need a fence around 8 foot tall , and even then truck drivers , maybe bus passengers , could see a bit . Otherwise , something like a solid 'end' on your deck may be the answer -- make it similar to your house style , or complimentary , or even a feature . You can add colour , grow plants in pots and put rings on this new structure to hold the pots . If its 'just' the backyard , then 5 foot or so will stop most prying eyes , and to me is a good compromise -- you don't want to feel walled in ( or maybe you do ) ; also people walking or bussing past are more likely to be curious the higher your fence goes . Likewise , planting of shrubs , trees , bamboos etc all help too , either along your deck edge or boundary , often with a fence too .