georgi02 "follow some simple guidelines, the ones that people frequently aren't told when buying wall gardens and you end up finding out the hard way" Plant walls are fashionable and seem ideal for small spaces but it would be good if the stores that sell the bits and pieces told people it's not just a trendy decor item, it needs some gardening expertise. mutcherson, is there any space between that deck and the fence? IMO the most successful low-maintenance gardening is the right choice of plant growing in the ground. As soon as you start messing around with unusual plants, unusual containers, unusual locations, you start having additional challenges. But I reckon if you want it's worth having another try with a wall using georgi02 's instructions. Succulents are easy to grow from cuttings and forgiving of lack of water. When you take cuttings of succulents you are supposed to put them aside for a while before potting them and I have found pieces I forgot I cut weeks earlier and managed to grow them. I have had some problems with succulents but that was because of frost so you you won't have that challenge.

Cloudyhaze....I think all of the options look good, but it just depends on the look you personally wish to have for your house, because painting the ceiling white will COMPLETELY change the look. My sister has just bought a place that had brick walls and exposed ceilings that had the beams painted mission brown and the ceiling was in some form of raw chipboard type material. She wanted to brighten the place up before she moved in and got it all painted white. It looks beautiful, but I personally would have thought of other options before painting the brick etc. She got a quote for plastering (sheeting) the sections in between the exposed ceiling beams and it was a lot more expensive than painting. If you are keen to paint just the panelling in the ceiling, then I would get additional quotes. I am no painter but I would suspect if it has shellac on it, it will just need an initial sealer on it, before putting on the 2 coats of flat ceiling paint. I think all of the options will look beautiful, because the high ceilings are the feature.........it just depends on whether you are going for a more rustic look, mid-century look , more modern look...I am not sure of what all the designs are called. Good Luck. Your house is gorgeous. My sister lives on Gold Coast BTW.

We too live in a cold winter climate with our bathrooms all on the southern side and faced similar issues as you do. One smaller bathroom does not have a window so we put in a Velux skylight which provides amazing natural light through the day. This may not be to your liking, especially if you have a period home. We also use heated towel rails and under tile heating (just enough to take the chill off and stop mould) in winter. Although we have a light in the shower recess, a bonus is the large fixed shower head with inbuilt LED, which at night gives the feeling of showering under moonlight. We chose light colours and mirrored recessed cabinets to reflect as much natural light as possible.

My kitchen is primarily 'burnt red' and the red bricks , which are slightly less brown than the burnt red . the ceiling is white , with stainless downlights , the rest is red , charcoal , white , the odd fleck of grey and black . The floor and blind are brown wood . I don't consider it overly decorated . It opens to the dining room , which is also a natural wooden floor , a black glass top table with black legs , black steel framed chairs with red leather seats and backs , an almost black wooden sideboard , a couple of big colourful abstract paintings , and 3 walls are wallpapered in a wheat weave pattern , the 4th is that red brick . There are 2 large wooden venetians too . The lounge is , yep , red leather lounge suite and extra chairs , there's even a red leather footstool that is heart-shaped ! The TV cabinet is custom made and is nearly 4 metres long , all wood with a dark stain . The floor is wheat coloured carpet with a large shaggy red rug , a black glass coffee table , a 65 inch TV and 7 speaker home theatre , a couple of those polished search light spot lights on wooden tripods , and several original paintings ( only 1 is an abstract , the rest are people , although a couple are Picasso-esque ! ) . Not much white , not a great fan . I'll put up some pics in a couple of years when I've tidied hahaha .