Hi guys , you are about to embark on a major renovation that will enhance your lifestyle which is great . I would highly recommend that you engage a professional landscape designer to maximise your investment . The long term benefits will definitely outweigh the relatively small investment of a couple of thousand dollars on a great design of the spaces and how they will bring the most fun and enjoyment to your family , and at the same time increase the value of your home . Step one is to seriously consider your budget , and then get a great design that maximises every dollar . Your budget will drive your overall design concepts and your construction priorities . This is even more reason to be working with a good design plan which will guide you through the whole process and keep you on track . The plan will manage your trades and keep the project true to the overall design objectives . From a design perspective , your suggested black and grey colour scheme would work if you are going to render and /or paint over your house brick , so that the actual home is modernised as part of the total project . If you are not going to do that , then maybe you would consider a lighter but still modern colour scheme for your outdoor structures . You can still trim with touches of black . The black pool fence is designed to make the structure visually disappear , so I am not sure if you should be choosing black as your dominant outdoor colour as dark structures also are hard to see in bright sunshine , plus they are harsh on the eyes up close . But black trim added to lighter thicker timber pergolas can add a sophisticated and elegant detail line . Have you had your pools pressure relief valve checked to make sure the concrete shell doesn't pop out of the ground whilst the pool is empty ? Your photos show that the view from inside your home out to the pool area takes your eyes beyond the pool area and into the distance . A good landscape design and placement of outdoor structures will help you bring your outdoor pool areas " back to the house " . Also choosing appropriate planting will be an important part of creating your own little paradise at home . Don't be scared to create some visual vertical barriers as they will give a beautiful private resort feel to your home , and they will actually make the outdoor pool area seem larger , but cosy . Carefully look at the orientation of everything that is designed for your outdoor spaces , as your pool area is exposed , so shade and weather protection are crucial as part of the design. Lastly , I hope you guys read my comments as constructive input and not negative , as I am just trying to help you consider the " big picture " with your home and investment . If you do it well , you will have great fun and maximise your dollars . Good luck Glenn

A CELEBRATION OF THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN DUNNY In 1984 bought more than half an acre on a corner of a main arterial in a small country town. The house was on the top of the hill and the dunny-laundry half way down the paddock. No plumbing. It snowed the month after I moved in. Grandma's commode, given to me by my wise elderly Aunt,became very handy indeed. Visitors from the USA came to see what I'd done as cousing all born with silver spoons in their mouths thought it rather. Lady wanted to go "to the bathroom". I sent her to the bathroom. She returned looking perplexed whilst the rest of the company waited with baired breath..."but....???" OHH..you meant the Dunny! Sorry about that!. Gave her a jacket and a beanie and a pair of boots and pointed her to the small building in the middle of the paddock called "The Viewing Room". By then it was more than "bits of wood and woolsack with odours on the breeze" but not exactly what she was expeting. The "Night Man" had been the previous night....not a "long drop" bit a tin can that got emptie about 3a.m....so a little less of a shock. Tghe lid was wooden with a crack just where one did not need a crack...poor woman. I'd purchased some toiklet seat liners that one carries to utilise in public toilets, had to explain what they were! Mission accomplished, She returned to wash her hands in my poorest of the poor bathrooms and said....but I thought IT would have been in the bathroom! Lengthy explantion ensued.......how would the Night Man get in to empty it etc,,,etc...None of this pioneering made sense. Finally the sewerage came to town and the dunny was moved to inside. The day was a town celebration. A competition was launched to give a prize to the best inside dunny. Here's mine.

Comes down to taste/preference of effect and of course budget! Agree that if you select the wrong fitting it can be almost too blinding and overpowering.....strip is great, but individual spots I find are particularly effective and a softer option for highlighting external aspects, of course though it depends upon what you're endeavouring to achieve. My advice is to ensure you invest in quality for external. There is also LED and LED if you know what I mean ;) The quality LED external fitting won't require separate led globes, but is all integrated. You can also get uplights that throw light sideways to avoid the blinding effect like examples belowOther comment is that if you're not 100% sure about how/where to position/what to buy, you may be better to consider a more flexible option of say a spike spot that you can play around with the positioning and direction, and of course move around to elsewhere to highlight other external aspects Black's always a great colour option externally. I think an edge/strip (either pebbles or even soft/garden/mondo grass) particularly to a wall is a good element to include to soften/break-up the extent of hard surfaces. You could always just leave the main pour 15cm short and then fill in the edge strip later either with pebbles or garden depending upon what you think is better....just a long as you rough power cables somewhere there before you do the main section you can sort it out/finalise decisions in due course

try a deck and ramp built out of modwood or similar composite decking that should be able to sit on top of the tiles and provide a textured no slip surface ...a good handyman or carpenter would be able to build this for you and it would look much neater than the usual add on