Hi Mona, First of all what a stunning house. My house paint is extremely similar to this one.I am almost sure there are three shades of the same colour. If you saw these shades at different times of the day you would see what I mean.Now here is the exciting part for me they all come from the base colour of green. If you look closely at the trims ( real word escapes me ) they are telling you this. I painted my rendered house 19 years ago and the only thing I have to do is wash it down every couple of years, I am in Sydney. By the way the paint has a lifetime guarantee. Unfortunately the paint was not allowed into Oz at the time so I cannot tell you how I got it for obvious reasons. I hope things have changed for the customers benefit but the other manufacturers did not want it for obvious reasons. the name of the paint is KEIM and it is german of course. I do not regret using it for a second and if I was to build again I would use it at the drop of a hat. I hope you find it and consider using it. I'm sure you will not find it advertised if the situation is the same. Please keep us posted as I am also curious. Kind regards, Miriam

Yes - there are these amazing options to have an 'electric pool cover' with a slat arrangement that allows you to virtually walk on it. Do a google search...'pool covers electric'... I've no idea on how much they cost... Here's some pics. Not sure if irregular shapes make this too challenging... Our pool experience... We are needing to change a few things with our pool already - wish we had paid more attention to the pipes and filtration... (Having to potentially move them as they are too shallow and in 'awkward spot'... Extra $ and I'm so worried it may cause issues for us... Even the location of the concrete slab for the pump... Wish we had thought about overall picture... If I was buying a car for $70k, I would have done more research, but somehow we got carried away with idea that we could have a pool for summer, and yet reality is that it's ready for the 'next summer'... Budget plan (original) was around $30-40k, but I guess it's like building a house... Plus it's all a big learning experience...

I agree that it's hard to choose the style without seeing the rest of the house but that a charcoal colour (same as the island cupboards) would tie in best with the colour scheme you have. Depending on the look of the house you have a lot of options to choose from and a lot depends on personal taste or budget. Glass is easy to keep clean and is a modern look if you are not wanting to draw attention to the splashback. Mirror (plain - modern or distressed - character) is lovely if you have something nice reflected in it. If the kitchen is messy though, it doubles the mess. Subway tiles (regular or irregular, tiled in brick format or herringbone) are always a lovely classic choice - but be mindful of grout issues. Arabesque or patterned tiles add more character if you're after tiles with a wow factor. I personally love stone, marble or quartz for an elegant, timeless look and in a charcoal or grey with veins I think would look stunning with the lamps as well as tying in the white and grey cabinetry. You can also do marble tiles that are a little less exxy than a slab although in the end I was surprised that the marble didn't cost much more than the caesarstone. Choices, choices!! Good luck. Your kitchen looks lovely!

You are kind to say that, Julie. Hubby also washed and polished the floorboards in the two rooms we decided to retain. They look much better as well. This has been fun project; don't quite know what I'll do with myself after it's completed! :) although, in saying that, there is the garden here to keep us occupied...!