@urj123, Cricky!!! I knew you were going to ask that, after I looked at the sample I had that was full strength ha-ha.....AND I re-read you post and you wrote quite clearly 1/4 strength!!! I will return to the store, AGAIN, ha-ha and ask for 1/4 strength. All jokes aside, I think 1/4 will probably be real nice, as I didn't dislike the full strength but too creamy for the ceiling. My daughter actually painted all her ceilings the same colour as her walls with Hog Bristle but all the experts seem to say that a ceiling should be white or at least traditionally its always been white and I like the look of that too. I won't be back in town until next week but I'll keep in touch when I have the sample in my hand. Hubby and I are hay contractors and are at our most busy time being in tractors for many long hours but we are nearing the end and then I can take a breath and turn my focus back onto the home. Actually have 80mtrs of edging or capping tiles around the veranda to do and then the same amount of concreting to do on the 1.8m wide veranda and then we can get the colourbond roof on the house and during the cooler months, we can start to lay the limestone bricks, so there's plenty to do on the home!!! I have photo's attached in an earlier post. Best get to bed, more hay baling to do tomorrow. Cheers, Barbara

Hi Aletla, If your apartment is part of a strata make sure that you get their permission before painting anything (best ask then fall foul of them as many courtyards are deemed as common property for exclusive use meaning that the Strata has the last word). If you get permission, I'd be tempted to lean towards a mid gray the same colour as the exterior building so that you're able to blur the lines between vertical and horizontal areas and make the area look bigger. You could think about putting in modular decking that will change the look of your courtyard that can be pulled up and that can be stained to any colour you pick. You would have to ask your strata but if you let them know it's modular and can be pulled up when you leave they should be OK with that as long as it cant be seen easily from outside the property boundaries. Regarding putting up shade - strata will not have any problem if you invest in a large outdoor umbrella as long as you make sure that it doesn't become a hazard during high winds/storms - you wont have to ask them. You can put up outdoor awnings but you'll need to get permission, supply all the engineering specs and your Strata may have restrictions regarding colour and style and may require you to: provide a structural engineers report on the impact, indemnify the building and put the awning on your insurance (a lot of work) and if necessary pay for a change of by-law. If you decide that you cant/don't want to change the colour of your outdoor flooring and as beige and grays are really popular, you could always tie the two together more with outdoor cushions for your seating that feature both of the colours. If you can get a high pressure hose and remove dirt and flaking paint to see exactly what the condition of the tiles are, you could ask your strata to pay for their reconditioning (if you offer to paint them and give them the colour and say you're happy to pay for that then they'll probably say "OK" to avoid costs to the strata as they're responsible for the external parts of your building - remember you only own the airspace of your apartment).

annb1997 - Yes, that is part of the reason I'm doing this project. The entire area will be lowered, re-graded and some drains installed (the garden edge is kind of temporarily in place for now, got a great deal on the plants so they had to go in). It's a bigger job than anticipated as it also means the air conditioners (x3) need to be de-commossioned and re-installed at the new levels. John, I like the idea with regard to the tank, but we get allot of bitey critters and I don't really want to give them anymore areas to hide out in.

We used an outdoor version of the concrete look tiles we used in our bathrooms. The tile have a rougher and slightly grooved surface which make them non slip. We used the same tiles as water line and pool coping. Once installed, we had a separate guy come in and hone the edges. Only cost a few hundred dollars.