I've seen a few sliders painted with blackboard paint - they're so fun and mobile, if there's a hall door somewhere it might be an option as they muffle sound rather than seal it out. KRAKEN WHALE FIGHT! If it's childlike dreams you want to be added to the house, maybe do a kiddy-height connecting door between the kids' rooms or a little message chute they can send back and forth, pigeon holes to send letters to each other or some crazy options like your hidden door in a more public area like the front entertaining space. There are so many ways to add whimsy that can be fixed up and removed later on if yall need. If the kids are smol: Kids only door or Door in a door There's an amazing episode of Grand Designs with a couple of superfun ideas Scooby Doo House that made me realise hidden doors and revolving shelves are better for playrooms than bedrooms.

Start by spending a portion of your budget on the various dream feature items that are relocatable and can be used in your final design anyway. e.g. Buy the firepit you really want - it can become the focal point of your future garden. Test it outside in your backyard for a few months. Are heaps of mozzies annoying you while you're sitting outside around the firepit? If so, then you'll know that you're going to need a gazebo with flyscreens as well as privacy curtains so you can really enjoy lying outside in your hammock year round. The hammock is another relocatable part of your design. First, lie outside in your backyard on a swag or a rug for a few hours. Is it too windy? Is there road noise? Keep experimenting until you've found the perfect location for the hammock. Then buy an inexpensive hammock and suspend it from a couple of sturdy RL4 poles. If it's working, then this is the place where you should build your future patio, that's going to shelter your hammock. Keep testing inexpensive versions of your other ideas out. Trial tea candles or a string of inexpensive white Christmas lights as garden lighting. Do they create the feel you want or do lights just attract moths or unwanted insects? What about relocatable solar garden lights? Or a portable floodlight from Bunnings? Where's the ideal place for your garden table and chairs? Test it out with inexpensive camping chairs - or chairs you already own for a few months to be sure. Then invest in the perfect outdoor table and chairs. Same with the water feature. Start with a wine barrel with a waterlily or a second hand pond off Gumtree. Can you hear the trickling water in the garden or do other noises crowd it out? Keep in mind big goldfish need deep water and space to swim. To help you in your choice of plants,look around your immediate neighbourhood. What purple, blue and scented plants are thriving in your immediate area? Who has the best garden in your street in your opinion - and why do you think that? Do you always see a particular neighbour passionately working outside in their garden? That's the person you should strike up a conversation with to get advise about suitable plants for your immediate area. Chances are they will not only give you heaps of free advise but they will probably give you plants and cuttings as well. Markets are another source of perennial plants that grow well in the local area. Plant these smaller plants into large plastic pots and garden bags and allow them to grow for a year or so. Consider herbs as filler plants - many are highly scented, can be used in cooking and often have interesting foliage e.g. choc mint, fennel, rosemary etc. After you've been using your backyard for at least a year and you've experienced all of the seasons, then invest in your big ticket items like your gazebo. Buy or build a structure that's truly practical for your local microclimate - incorporate glass, windbreak fencing, shadecloth, mozzie mesh or whatever you need to make your hammock shelter ultra comfortable. Build this structure where you've tested it and know it will work - not where a stranger who designs gardens thinks it should go. Spend the remaining money on the things you know you need and want - the stones, plants, irrigation, a birdbath, etc

Hi, use the cat as inspiration because its colours are beautiful - (a black white and tan rug would add a little wow) and its hair will blend in too. Next just add in small touches of a green you like and more of the base colours in rugs, throws, cushions etc. As for furniture if you follow decor trends it is now the thing to NOT have matching furniture sets in the bedroom but the trick is to link everything through colour. I suggest a picture rest shelf (Bunnings) running along the back wall above the bed at eye level. Pictures (and a mirror) and bits and bobs are then on one level, look intentionally placed, keep things tidy and out of reach of little hands and you can mix and swap as seasons and events change. Plants yes, they give colour and life, then a bit of wicker/rattan or other texture in plant bases, a chair or foot stools at the end of the bed. Some nice green glass vases or candle holders etc. etc. Easy changes that allow you to save for when you want to do your big reno. I would spend your big money getting rid of the strip lighting above the bed and adding nice floaty sheer curtains.

Things are ticking along . We have a whole lot of long skinny flush-mounted LED taillights -- they won't be fitted until we take Frankie off the road to re-paint , as the existing lights come off , and these ones will need holes cut , the exterior repainted , then these lights bonded ( glued ) in . The Mercedes seats have had new certified mounts made ( being a safety item , we spent about $150 getting them certified -- keeps it legal , although there are literally thousands of vehicles out there that have had seats changed , and no certs ) and we made little 'boxes' that have walnut tops , and all the controls for the electric seats are in these ( on Merc cars , they are on the doors , but our auto sparky has made new mini wiring looms ) . We dropped the seats to the upholsterer last week , so in the next month or so they will be recovered -- a sort of bone/cream leather for the surrounds , and red leather with diamond stitching up the middles . This is almost what my cab looks like , mine has 1980's Falcon or similar bucket seats in a grey vinyl . I assume that was done so that there is only the 2 seats , and you can get through to the back , whereas in the pic with 3 seats , you can't . My interior is the same colours -- 3 different charcoal/grey tones on the dash , then a black on the doors ( why , I have no idea -- I would have thought charcoal would have been better ? ) . Once the seats are back and fitted , I am tempted to get the door cards redone -- do a padded charcoal vinyl that matches one of the dash colours , but do a 'scallop' from the rear of each door in the lighter leather , then a red maybe 150mm wide scallop in the middle . I feel that will tie in the doors , the dash and the seats better . The booth seating ( table and chairs basically ) in the rear will get done the same cream/bone and red leather , to tie it in a bit more . Which then brings up 1 problem . You may have noticed I have used a downloaded pic , and I was going to post a few 'before' pics of the cab and the rear , so you can see it in its 90's wooden and tacky lino glory , but that turns out to be a problem . All the 'before' pics I have are ones that the last owner e-mailed to me . I downloaded them all , they are still on my computer , I can look at them no problem . BUT for some reason , they aren't JPG's -- they show as 'Google Chrome Files' , and I can't work out if I can post them here -- I've tried but nothing happens . Are there any experts that know how to post these 'files' ( pictures ) ?