Thanks Wuff, will check out your profile pics! We are going to change the position of the front door to the wall it adjoins for a better entry/flow through the inside of the house. This would allow us to extend the existing wall getting rid of the recessed part of the porch (I want to use the reclaimed part plus the existing hallway for a robe and linen cupboard). We would extend the porch/deck to the edge of the outer wall where the new door will be. Given your reaction, any comments on changing the porch to remove the recessed section in favour of a large entrance area?

we have a low window in our shower and installed a venetian blind works to preserve privacy...we tried a cheap one to make sure it works well before we invest in plantation shutters but the venetian looks great and works very well in the meantime

Hi All, well I've been test painting for days and still so unsure. I think the hardest part is deciding on the gutters etc. In the top photo you can see from left to right. Dune full strength, then Jasper at the other end of same gutter, below that is a white called Surfmist and then there is monument on the lower gutter. I quite liked the monument on the gutter but when tried on the wooden fence it was clearly going to be too much darkness and didn't look good. I'm currently trying Jasper on the fence and other areas but its really a brown colour and again over a large area not sure its going to look all that nice and maybe too dark. When trying lighter colours, white and off whites on the trimmings they looked far too start on the dark roof so I think white/s are out for gutters. Can you have a different coloured fence (wooden panels) to the trimmings on the house? I've been assuming they need to match. I'm fairly happy with half dune on the walls. Any other suggestions for trimmings or thoughts on the colours in this photo? Its doing my head in now!! Second photo was house with lighter colours on the gutters - surfmist and dune I think. I tried a vivid white but it was crazy wrong.

Hi CP and thank you! Your comment and suggestion is not controversial at all, but raises interesting design points. They are not shutters, but timber louvres. They can be raised and lowered as 1/2 panels- 2 per each window. When they are “open” it’s straight out to the deck and the elements. IE no glass Windows behind- just screens to keep out the insects. As the home is in the tropics, and currently it’s steaming hot and the humidity level is sky high too- in order to keep the room fully Air Conditioned (for now) it’s necessary to keep the louvres fully closed. So- it’s “either/or” with this window style, as they are not “traditional” windows. That’s why there is the glass door to the balcony and the skylights in the ceiling- to let in natural light in the summer steamy season. The only months we don’t need A/C are winter months here, which is June- September aprox. In those months when excessive heat has gone, I can open everything and there is a beautiful view out to the tropical rainforest vegetation and trees. Then, it indeed looks as though there are no window “treatments” as I can raise all the louvres. I once (years ago) got a quote to put in more normal windows, but the cost was exorbitant and besides, I felt it was ultimately the wrong thing to do as it would take away the unique character of this pole house. Tomorrow when it’s light, I can post some photos of all the louvres raised just to give you an idea.