I'm not a professional landscaper but as a parent I actually disagree... Gardens for kids need to be somewhere to stimulate the imagination and dream and play. Don't kids always have a ball exploring their grandparents gardens? I would go for large leaf plants that create secret hidey cubby spots under the foliage, fragrant herbs that can be brushed up against. Ornamental grasses with big seedy stalks, Bright cheerful flowers that can be picked for all sorts of potions. I would recommend NOT making your backyard like a playground, because that takes the joy away from trips to the park. All the different levels are great for adventures and imagination. Don't make it too safe... those rocks are EXACTLY where your kids will want to walk along and perfect their motor skills and balancing and risk assessment skills. They won't get into too much danger in your backyard. You could terrace the slope and plant into it with herbs and some kid friendly plants like herbs, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, strawberries. Then down the track have more grownup choices. Also plants that will attract birds, lizards and other wildlife for the kids to enjoy. Large bushes like grevillea and bottle brushes -you can get groundcover rambling ones on these also- they will attract beautiful birds like rosellas which the kids can enjoy. I would go for a garden that can be discovered and explored and let kids imagination take over. You want a garden that can be a castle, a pirate ship, a rocket, the moon, a fairy forest, whatever! As far as actual play things, Use logs or stepping stones through the garden beds to protect the plants from being trampled. Don't make paths through, but space them randomly so the kids can go any direction. A few areas with river pebbles... nice round smooth ones in different colours, that can be stacked and played with will be endlessly entertaining. Don't underestimate the fun and joy of sticks and stones! Logs in alternating heights through the garden bed will create a great rambling obstacle course to balance on. If you want to go there, maybe add a slide down the slope of the hill next to the step. Or a secret pipe for sending cars or messages down. There is a great toy called sticklets that can be used to connect larger sticks and branches to make forts and cubbies. But its not really necessary. A lot of those play equipment sorts of things are just too rigid in the way the kids can use them. Kids need a little space, and lots and lots of wild and green! This website has some awesome ideas! http://www.letthechildrenplay.net

Gorgeous! Your clients must be thrilled with the result. I love the brick wall that remains... creates a feature. Great use of space under the stairs! Could pose a problem getting back up them tho after you've enjoyed a few glasses of your favourite shiraz ;)

you will be able to find out whats behind the wall by first going into the room next door to see see if there's a recess from the other side and/or going up inside the roof space to look down from above to check if the walls around the oven are supporting the roof or hiding a chimney or some other mystery but if the house is not very old it's probably just a timber framed section with the oven installed into the space instead of the more standard technique of installing the oven into a kitchen cabinet..but, after an electrician has removed the old oven it's quite simple to remove the old plasterboard and the framing if it's not supporting any roof and then the gap in the wall and ceiling can be easily repaired by a plasterer and painted ready for a new kitchen...BUT it's never a good idea to rip out anything until you have a clear plan of exactly what you want to do and the new kitchen cabinets, plumber and electrician are all ready for installation and that's probably better left until you live in a house for a while

Before My clients contacted me a week before they settled on this lovely queenslander style property on 5 acres in the Perth Hills late 2019. At the in-home consultation they mentioned that the house was their forever home for their multi generation family and the kitchen was the first thing on their list of things to renovate. They has some great ideas about how they wanted the kitchen and the rest of the home to look as they progress through the home renovation over a couple of years. The modern farmhouse kitchen idea was perfect for the Perth Hills style home and really fitted in with it's surroundings and style of home. My clients had spent time living in England and Ireland, travelling and working in Asia and had put some real thought into what type kitchen style they wanted in their forever home. This was a great opportunity to redesign the layout to make it more functional for them from a storage perspective and allow space for their lust worthy grand 110 cm Falcon oven. I suggested removing a small pony wall in front of the existing dining table which was sat in the middle of the kitchen and by removing the old dining table we had plenty of room for a large 3 metre island instead. Removing the pony wall made the space more open and allowed for access around the island and the L shaped layout of floor cupboards. My client collects glass ornaments and vases so I suggested a row of glass fronted wall cabinets would look lovely illuminated with lights to house these collected treasures and added a wine storage area to what was once a small desk and telephone stand in the left corner of the kitchen. This new wine storage area became a lovely focal point with storage for wine glasses, spirits, a drawer for wine stoppers and openers and extra storage below. The walk-in-pantry hidden behind the timber door was transformed into a functional place to store the kettle and coffee machine and all of the fresh vegetable produce from their gardens which gave the kitchen extra storage for larger appliances and large bags of flour for their bread maker and this was completed with matching cabinetry but painted 2 Pac Dulux Vivid White to compliment the white Falcon oven. Choosing the right green paint to compliment the Ash Grey marble benchtops my clients fell in love was fun and we settled on Leek Leaf from Haymes Paint. The farmhouse style doors were painted 2 pac and have a lovely shaker farmhouse look with the bead board panels. The Belfast sink was a must for my Irish client and I found the perfect one to compliment their contemporary KWC tap which was so large and even came with a light to make sure night time trips to fetch a glass of water did not wake the rest of the family up. The cabinetry was made and installed by MC Cabinets, Perth. The grand kitchen pendant lights were a must have on the list of things my client wanted and we found these together at Beacon Lighting we had fun looking at lights and ensuring they were the right size and scale for the 3.2 metre ceilings and they really finished off the space lovely. Making sure the tiled splashback didn't distract the eye too much from the beautiful marble benchtop and green kitchen and also to avoid it all looking too busy I suggested the simple subway tile in off white to finish the space and it all worked out perfectly. The kitchen was completed in March 2020 and my clients were so happy with the finished result. The clients brief was met with their take on the contemporary farmhouse kitchen with a fun green vibe, balance of surfaces and stunning blend of contemporary and traditional finishes. The functionality of the kitchn was turned on it's head and given the owners of this beautiful home a new lease of life for many years to come. Budget $85K Marble - CDK Stone Sink - Schots Home Emporium. Falcon Oven and KWC Tap - Winning Appliances Cabinetry by MC Cabinets, Perth Kitchen Design by Bronika Carter, Lupton Interior Design “Bronika is an amazing interior designer, we are so happy with our kitchen it was designed exactly as we wanted it. She has a fabulous eye for detail and conducts her work with great professionalism and punctuality. Everything was done to a high standard, we highly recommend her. Victoria McCaw - Mundaring, WA”