I think that the problem that you have is that you have too many flat surfaces and angles with nothing to lead your eye away from the blandness. You have grey concrete, grey roof, grey walls and the emotional response to that is a feeling of flatness and blah. The only thing that brings any kind of relief to the view are the plants and the steps that introduce different levels. My suggestion would be to look at adding texture, different levels for contrast to the flat surfaces and colours that unite those elements. Take a look at how the red lid on the rubbish bin pops out amongst the muted tones. Maybe bright red pots with taller (and healthier) looking plants in them on either side of the bench with a textural artwork or screen as mentioned above in between. You could be really bold and paint the steps red!, but don't do the pot plant suggestion if you do that. Once the air conditioning unit is removed I would put more boards down the front to cover up the gap and dirt underneath the pot plants. If you have the available space in front of that, place some seating and maybe a table, perhaps toning in with the grey tones but with a colour pot or cushions that tie in with the plants in the coloured (I suggested red, go with what you like) pots. I would also like to see what sort of door you have to access the room and yes, put the bins somewhere else if possible, they are unsightly.

Duplicate post.

Haha fiona-b, (not) actually that is the correct method for disposing of carp, they are to be left well up the bank otherwise they have been known to be abe to flip themselves back into the water from quite some distance, as they stay alive for what seems like a really long time. It's actually illegal to put the fish back into the water if you catch it and I guess there isn't a "bin it" spot for carp!! When other fish are caught and cleaned, the remains I think are thrown back in for the birds etc... but not so with the carp. Howevr, I would hate to be smelling the dogs too haha My dog once rolled in something dead when I had her away from home in a paddock and I couldn't do a thing about it and she was with me in the tractor (close quarters) it was horendous!!

You are better off with a straight roller blind. Anything with vertical slits will flap around when the aircon is on and that is irritating. Its very simple to have two sets installed so you can have a part shade/privacy one and a blockout one. Hotels install them all the time.