Miranda You appear to be making all the right choices in life. I will be a little bit presumptuous by offering some advice on helping you to raise your child in touch with nature in this age full of all the electronic lures that keep the kids indoors. or, when outdoors, glued to a small screen, rather than the glory that surrounds them. I am writing a book about landscape architecture and have a section regarding the importance of embracing nature in the preschool years. - which I would like to forward that section to you. However, my computer skills are limited to email and US Mail. I don't even know how to attach a picture to the text. If you would like to receive this draft from my future book, send me your email or postal address, and I'll get it right off to you. My email is cascio.offsite@gmail.com Good luck with your new challenges and opportunities. Joe Cascio

I'd definitely leave the brick and the roof, it looks like a good, solid and classic house a and the front door would come up beautifully in a smarter colour. I'd paint your front door, gutters and garage door Dulux Monument and it would look fantastic, particularly with your brick and roof couloirs and that lovely sandstone. Then the gables in the same sandy colour as your posts, though if it's too yellow-creamy you could use a warm grey taupe like Dulux Dieskau. Replace the coach lights with a sleeker but still classic version like Beacon's Southhampton and an additional pair either side of the front door. Replace the urns with say 3 simple tubular pots of varying heights on the left side with some interesting crassula and rounded Japanese box. Trim your hedge right down and thin out to shoulder height. Not sure if you can replace the finials on your fence as this Victorian style doesn't suit your house and is a bit dated. Then rip out any ratty looking plants (poor roses always look ratty!) and replace with plants that are ideal for the aspect - if they're in the shade only put in clients that in part shade even magnolia little gem is versatile. Otherwise a lovely sweet viburnum will add softness and bright foliage. Plant mondo grass in the tall pot and remove the pew bench and rectangular planters and get a new small batch of fresh pebbles for between the square pavers. You could even put an interesting bench (or that pew) along the wall on the right of the front door, style it up with a couple of outdoor cushions (KMART even have some smart stripe ones). and finally get the roof cleaned but otherwise leave it! it's a great house, it won't take much to make it look really fresh and stylish.

Hi there, I personally don't like the look of that rock wall with your home. It does nothing for it. I would get rid of it, you may even be able to sell the rock for a bit of cash. I would besser block a retaining wall in its place with posts and render this, then use your timber horizontally slated between the posts. Select a paint colour that works nice with your timber colour and carry the colour through to your house. This will also work in with your side timber fence. Also remove all the plants in the front, just because they are lovely doesn't mean they are in the right place or serve a purpose, you may be able to transplant them somewhere else in the yard. Plants: mop tops are a great feature tree and give lots of shade in summer. A hedge along the inside of the fence would look great, Lilly pilly's are good and Japanese box is tough as boots and requires little water once up a bit. Westringia, birds of paradise, hibiscus, viburnum, Murraya all take heat, depends on what look your after. My average temps in summer are 47 degrees and winter -3 & these plants survive. Yes I also agree with a path from the front to the door. Front door to house could have some timber posts added with an awning/patio to make it stand out. The timber would carry through from the front fence. Painting the brick can also give it a lift if you don't want to go modern with render. You could also paint the concrete driveway, there are some snazzy options available for this, plain or stencil. Best of luck! I'm sure it will come up a treat.

Hi there, the proportions of your home at the front are very good to work with - you could easily go cottage style or modern. I think it is the apricot/beige colour of the render and the black windows and ironwork at the front that is letting down the facade, luckily you have a roof colour that will work with many wall paint colours so lots of options for repainting the render. I cant see if your windows are timber or aluminium, but if timber painting them off-white would make a huge difference as would replacing the ironwork posts with timber posts, some timber trims and railing. That style of facade works equally well with a bold paint colour or a lighter colour, so again you can opt for a classic or modern look. Is all that paving needed, is it for parking? If you dont want to remove it then perhaps just taking out some pavers in the center to form a large square and planting a feature tree (edged with box hedges or planted around with groundcover) would look amazing and break up the large paved area. Julie's images show how great box hedges look, using them to line driveways and divide areas creates a formal and neat look.