Hi Kate, I have a new floor plan suggestion for you, opening up the Family/TV at the side of the kitchen with double pocket doors that can be closed off to help with heating, the doors can be glass or solid. There's a place for a computer desk which you can keep an eye on the kids. and a nook for bags etc near the kitchen and back door. cheers

No.1 would have to be solar panels to pay for the cost of running all these new toys. Luke, seriously, we all claim to be green these days and are concerned about our planet and the environment but have we really stopped to think how "green" these toys are? We are becoming like kids at Christmas with them. These toys are all predominantly plastic, just like kids toys, they break we throw away except with adult toys their shelf life is as long as it takes for the next bigger and better model to come out. Emphasis these days is all about making our lives easier but all these labour saving devices are not making things easy for our environment. It is almost a joke that a plastic water bottle takes twice as much water to make than the liquid it holds. We are all proud of ourselves when we recycle but how many of us have actually followed what really happens with our recycling - how much energy and water is required in the recycling process, how much of it is actually reused? We are recycling more product than we have use for - what happens to the excess?? The more of these toys that keep coming, the more excess waste we will have. I read this some years ago and with findings now coming to light, it is obvious things are getting worse faster than we can control them. http://www.worldwatch.org/global-plastic-production-rises-recycling-lags-0 Lets keep technology for the important things - medical science or making our world safer ............. not wiping it out with rubbish.

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, I’m very late to this conversation so I apologise for butting in. I refer only to your console table in this pic and you said it looks bulky. I think the issue is the vase and the candlesticks are too similar in height so they add bulk and not enough contrast. I would remove the candlesticks altogether and place the vase offset in front of the picture with the small dish in front again. The picture would be even better if you changed the frame to a white or black with a white matt surrounding the picture, similar to the frame below. Also the lamp casts a yellow light which would be better if it was white. Either it’s the globe or the shade. If the shade, change to an off white or very soft grey. That’s my two cents worth anyway. Hope it helps 😏