Rog - congratulations, I think you have done a fantastic job. To me you have achieved a great balance between modern and trendy - modern lasts, trendy not so much, I even find it boring after a while. This looks like a home that has been decorated by the owners' and to their tastes too, nothing looks staged. As for the mural - I'm just speechless, what a piece of brilliance. Having just spent the last 4 years renovating and creating my new home (although I still have loose ends to tie up) I can really appreciate how you must be feeling now, being able to sit back and totally enjoy all the hard work. I hope you have many, many happy years there.

Had you considered reconfiguring and adding to the pool fence in order to incorporate the pergola inside pool fence boundary? I can certainly understand there are pros and cons to this, but I thought I would throw it out there. In any case, landscaping, lighting and painting pergola a more harmonious colour seem very good ideas to me. If you sketch out on paper some of the various plans and ideas you like or have in mind, and colour-in the different features, this might help you visualise things better. It's sort of rudimentary, but I have done it several times and it did help me 'see'. Best wishes, and please keep us posted on how you are going.

That is a lot of money to spend on a property just to sell it, so make sure you are confident about the value that you are adding, your budget, and how much renovated properties are getting in your area to make sure that its well worth doing. Sometimes original and daggy has more value to a buyer, who can then put there own stamp on the property, than a poorly considered, cheap renovation, that has been obviousy done to "flip" a property. There are thousands of paint colours that are available so the paint colours should be the last part of your decision making process. Start by considering the materials where there is less colour range such as your benchtops, splashbacks and flooring. Then work out cabinetwork materials and colours, then floor finishes. Once you have benchtops, flooring, cabinetwork and splashbacks working happily together you can then choose paint colours. If you do the reverse and start with paint colours it makes to process so much harder. With so many decisions to make, and tens of thousands of dollars to spend then it would be worth while engaging a profesional to ensure that you get the best value for your spend, and to ensure that your decisions are driven by your head, and not your heart. Read up on "flipping" real estate to minimise the risk of being out of pocket after the sale. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

With grey and white to go with, you're right on trend (well, in NZ anyway). Keep those colours. With the furniture, cut the newell posts off the bed and square up the headboard and baseboard (or get rid of the baseboard altogether if you can. I did my headboard with a piece of MDF and covered it with a sheet. I'd do the same with the dresser - cut the newell posts off. Those things really date the furniture. Paint all the furniture either gloss white or black and change the handles to silver or brushed chrome. Just make sure that some where else in the room is the same silver/ brushed chrome. Maybe a photo frame of a couple of lamps? I think white.High gloss. Black or grey plain (no pattern) drapes as close as you can get to the wall colour. That way they disappear and don't become a feature (unless you got for very expensive and make them a show piece). I'd put the drapes behind some shimmer voile sheers that drape across the floor a little. Now you only have to choose accents and you'll have a different look any time. Pinks, blues, purples -whatever takes your fancy. Don't forget to add in a few different textures to soften things up a bit, ad see if you can pick up a 2nd hand cheap chandelier.I think I spent about $300 total from a nasty blue flocked wallpaper and apricot curtains, and a couple of other bits and pieces. Would love to see the finished product!!