Analysis first, then plan, as Tookoo recommends. Use native plants, as neotoma recommends. Get specific plant recommendations locally, as Terri & sgelade recommend. Here is my two cents worth, for the shortterm. a. Remove and stockpile the lawn edging and most of the mulch back against the fences. b. Take a can of spray paint, or a bundle of surveyor's flag, and mark the largest circular or curved form that will fit within the fenced areas, no matter where the trees stand (inside or outside of the line) to form the temporary edge of your lawn area. See if the entire family agrees on the alignment or just do what looks best to you as the Senior Gardener. c. Add the wood edging to the new edge, or, it will look a lot better if the edge is not visible, using a steel edge whose top edge is down just above the grass roots and no longer visible, and not an impediment to the lawn mower. (when you form the plant beds, you will dig down a couple inches at the edge, where it meets the steel, and then slope the bed up from there, and the mulch will be contained at the level of the lawn, beyond) My recommendation, after you call in your landscape advisor, is to fill the beds totally with ground cover, beneath the shrubs, so no mulch will be seen after the two years of plant growth, using only a finer textured mulch which will become part of the soil bed. (Maybe the bark mulch will smell good in your new fire pit, along with the wood edging.) d. Plant the entire area with grass seed or sod and enjoy the beauty. The curved edge will make the space appear and feel larger and will decrease the maintenance of the smaller bed areas. On the subject of tree placement: analyse first, then plan. Look at all the views beyond your fenceline from all windows of the house, the living/ dining areas, all the bedrooms, to enhance the good views and to block the big, the bad, and the ugly. The large trees on your list will block views from the upper windows, The small horizontally branched trees will be a piece of sculpture in your downstairs view throughout the year, while their flowering and fragrance yet another reason to be alive. For instance, if you have an attractive small tree that has attractive flowers and foliage, PLUS has attractive bark color and has a sculptural quality in the off-season, you won't have to visit the museum quite as often, with a sculpture garden right out your window.

The curved wall has to stay, I like it too little bit out of the norm. This spot what you see when you open the front door. I'm planning on an office the room off to the right. I know it should be storage but putting door in front of it will look pretty average.

Hi MaxCC, Your 'artwork' is called a wall niche. As far as I know, they were originally used to display religious icons, such as The Virgin Mary. I'm not religious but I do admit that I have a special love for wall niches. I have used them twice in homes that I've built as a place to display my 'Lamplighter' Lladro, so that he is on display to guest. The niches were always placed just inside the front entrance as yours is. Sadly I don't have any photos to show you, as we have just moved house and everything is still in storage. My suggestion, to help you with how to display the object that you will put into your niche, would be to keep the wall itself neutral but paint the niche in a metallic paint. Your want the object on display to be the item of greatest interest and the metallic paint [Resene have some wonderful colours to chose from] will help to draw your eye to that space.

I don't think I've ever done orange skirting boards , but I did once get close . For commercial leases , if the company leasing it has an orange logo / corporate colour , I'd have no hesitation doing orange . In the 90's , I bought a standard commercial unit -- 1 of a row of 6 , 200 sq mtr , concrete block ( fire protection -- at least in theory ) . It was maybe 10 years old . The front had a large roller door ( in mission brown ) , beside that a large window in 4 parts , overall 2 mtr x 2 mtr , in goldy brown powdercoated frame , and beside that a single glass and aluminium door in the same colour . Space above the window and single entrance door for a sign , against the concrete blocks painted white . Inside the window/door was an office / reception . Grey with black speckled industrial 'carpet' ; the concrete block wall to the right painted white ; the other 2 walls were that fake 'slatted' plasticated timber ; the suspended ceiling was those white 'cardboard' big rectangular tiles , with a couple of 3ft fluorescent lights . And predictably white skirting boards maybe 10mm x 30mm . I painted the big roller door bright red , the skirting boards bright red , the kick panel around the counter bright red , and the door between the office and the workshop bright red . Less than $1000 , in fact in those days probably $200 in materials and a couple of half days . Listed it for lease , leased within a week . It stood out . But in my house , I bring in colour via art , accessories , furniture , maybe a couple of feature walls ( and things like the front door , letterbox , pots , etc ) .