Before replacing your curtains as this can be quite expensive for such a large window, if they are in good condition, add a band of extra fabric to the bottom in what ever suits you, your existing curtain track can then be moved up to the ceiling for good looking full length curtains without the large round eyelets, could save you a lot of money, I would look at replacing/removing the sheers cheers

yeah i know.....

Hi, Pin down a builder? I would suggest you take the plans you have to a builder and get some feedback before you go much further. Builders are often your best ally when it comes to practical ways to achieve the design intent.... many is the time we have been asked to price a set of plans where the client has invested an inordinate amount of time and money on detail only to receive a rude shock when the reality hits the budget for all the detail desired.... cheers

To be honest I think the biggest boom industry is going to be in-fill development and re-aligning urban housing for mental health. I think the major projects are going to be in revitalising dead zones in urban area's and creating cosy apartments in places previously considered too small to bother with. There will be a huge push to developing shared green space, particularly in items like vertical and community gardens as these are necessary to prevent metro area's from feeling like ghetto's. Australia isn't going to decentralise anytime soon, our entire economy is built up around three major cities and some smaller hub cities. The vast distances and lack of decent transport outside metro zones coupled with the prohibitivaly expensive idea of putting in dcent public transit will leave the urban planners scrabbling to retrofit the metro's we already have rather than build new ones. The obvious first major project would be linking Canberra to both Sydney and Melbourne via ulta fast rail links. That project has been on hold and debated my entire life (I"m 50 now) so I think it's safe to say its unlikely to happen. They will go for the easier option, cram more people into the urban zones we already have and keep the status quo. Australia's cities are still very low density by world standards. Plenty of global developers would be happy to be involved in infill and repurpose developments here.