I have a courtyard that I had a quote from Stratco to enclose into a room. They were going to use wall panels with windows and a sliding door. I ditched the project when I realised the costs were enormous as I'd have to excavate and repour the concrete and move some plumbing as well as look at heating/cooling options if I wanted to use it all year round.

Hello Joseph To satisfy most issues for sound transmission in apartments we usually use the Regupol E48 8mm Impact acoustic underlay. It complies with the NCC and exceeds most strata requirements. If you search for this product you can obtain from Regupol their product information sheet. You can speak to them on (02) 9820 1233 (Minto). They will be able to provide their test results and certification of their product for you depending on the installation. They will also be able to direct you to acoustic engineers familiar with this kind of query. Regarding an onsite test, there are a lot of variables that affect the sound result. For example, thickness of slab, whether there is plaster or a suspended ceiling (changes the result), insulation etc. It would help you to find this out as the test results hinge heavily on this, and the acoustic product tests by manufacturers have different products for different scenarios. Regarding your installer, there are a couple of things that will make or break the result. In order for any acoustic membrane to work, the flooring must be completely isolated from the walls and floor. That means a gap all round for expansion must be maintained and then covered with skirting up off the floor. We install skirting with a spacer between the floor and bottom of the skirt using some discontinued laminex samples as a minimum 2mm clearance is required. Again, the Regupol info sheet shows a diagram of this. Cheers

I beg to differ from the other suggestions. I love the natural timber. It doesn't need covering or staining. The plants also are fine. The only change that I would make is to move the bird bath to a lower level. It looks wrong here.

If you are doing a Hamptosn style renovation then I would be consistant, and play up the symmetry, such as in this photo. You really want the pool and outlook to be the focal point, and not your splashback. I would go with a mirrored splashback to brick more light into your space and provide a better connection with your pool, rather than making the splashback a feature element. Best of luck with your considerations, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls