Thanks kirstensomers, first up I'll take it that North is to the right of your first picture. A few other thoughts pop to mind: You're being very kind to neighbours if you put a bed along the pool fence as I figure you can't actually see it much from your house. I would suggest letting the pool fence run to lawn. You'll get enough sun to do it as it's facing east. You have to mow that verge anyway, and it would be great for guest parking! You could focus your efforts and $ instead on doing both sides of your lovely wide driveway. I would never usually say this but I almost feel as though the tree closest to the driveway should go. It doesn't provide useful shade in that position. It partially blocks the view from that balcony. Also, the two trees on that side make the garden seem very unbalanced. A single remaining tree could claim its rightful place as the magnificent feature tree. If you went for the chop on one tree it leaves you with a nice amount of space to plant beds on both sides of the driveway and allows for better views if that's what you prefer.That's option 1. For option 2 you could of course take the opposite view and decide to balance out those two trees by planting one large tree on the other side of the driveway! It all hinges on whether you prefer looking into the tops of your trees or prefer looking at whatever you can see from your house. Personal choice for sure. Either way, the driveway would get morning and midday sun. The sun would reflect off the concrete. I'll bet you score the sea 'breeze' there too. Tough gig. I'm with Timandra Design and Landscaping as this is the perfect environment for natives and those that act like them. As to plantings? Option 2 is easier. What type of trees are they in the picture? Plant one of them then under plant with hardy dietes or agapanthus until the shade grows in. Option 1 opens up other possibilities. Modestly sized trees would seem to be the go. Rows of Callistemon King's Park Red marching up both sides of the drive attracting all the birds? Olive trees for their silvery foliage? Once you have decided the area and height for plantings you can go to some fine nurseries that specialise in natives and their mates. Nice way to spend a couple of hours! I hope you have much fun with your garden. It's so exciting to put in all that work then watch your efforts multiplied by nature. Good luck!

in that case I would stick with the monument. However I must admit that I do love that colour and we are having it on our new build. I like it because it has the richness of a darker contrast without the problem of black fading and looking faded whereas monument can experience a degree of fading over time and it would not be as obvious.

Looks great now... A finishing touch would be something on chest in combination of colours in room.... Or even a large black bowl / tray filled with colours - you could even use scarves.... Or add fluffy reddish cushion cover as a feature in basket... Group items on a runner...

Difficult block to get a good design onto. Privacy being a corner block, driveway entry point, etc. Even solar passive would be pretty average here (costs to achieve to retain privacy, etc) but you would get northern light. Garage location is the issue but this was touched on previously. I would remove the stacker door facing west and replace with window. Probably have both the windows at say 1500 mm high x 2170 mm wide?? I'd be looking into these sizes further but just a starting suggestion. I would remove the door facing north (near garage) and replace with a window at say 1500 mm high x 1570 mm wide. If you can't do that use a glazed door instead of a solid. East facing veranda is good. South lounge is good for TV - would need to close curtains to watch TV if it was to the north. The changes shouldn't cost much ($2k for amending plans, submitting to certifier, etc is at the upper end but minor in comparison to construction costs, you may save money/cost neutral as you're swapping door for window, etc.) Surprised you got away without double glazing the west facing windows.