Thanks kirstensomers, first up I'll take it that North is to the right of your first picture. A few other thoughts pop to mind: You're being very kind to neighbours if you put a bed along the pool fence as I figure you can't actually see it much from your house. I would suggest letting the pool fence run to lawn. You'll get enough sun to do it as it's facing east. You have to mow that verge anyway, and it would be great for guest parking! You could focus your efforts and $ instead on doing both sides of your lovely wide driveway. I would never usually say this but I almost feel as though the tree closest to the driveway should go. It doesn't provide useful shade in that position. It partially blocks the view from that balcony. Also, the two trees on that side make the garden seem very unbalanced. A single remaining tree could claim its rightful place as the magnificent feature tree. If you went for the chop on one tree it leaves you with a nice amount of space to plant beds on both sides of the driveway and allows for better views if that's what you prefer.That's option 1. For option 2 you could of course take the opposite view and decide to balance out those two trees by planting one large tree on the other side of the driveway! It all hinges on whether you prefer looking into the tops of your trees or prefer looking at whatever you can see from your house. Personal choice for sure. Either way, the driveway would get morning and midday sun. The sun would reflect off the concrete. I'll bet you score the sea 'breeze' there too. Tough gig. I'm with Timandra Design and Landscaping as this is the perfect environment for natives and those that act like them. As to plantings? Option 2 is easier. What type of trees are they in the picture? Plant one of them then under plant with hardy dietes or agapanthus until the shade grows in. Option 1 opens up other possibilities. Modestly sized trees would seem to be the go. Rows of Callistemon King's Park Red marching up both sides of the drive attracting all the birds? Olive trees for their silvery foliage? Once you have decided the area and height for plantings you can go to some fine nurseries that specialise in natives and their mates. Nice way to spend a couple of hours! I hope you have much fun with your garden. It's so exciting to put in all that work then watch your efforts multiplied by nature. Good luck!

Thanks everyone for your further comments. No problem about it being an old post, always nice to communicate with people about design solutions/problems. Jilly, I posted some photos on 1st January 2016, they appear further up in the post. Garden Beet Pty Ltd, and Morel Construction Ltd, both of your solutions look great, but our problem still remains the western Queensland sun which is pretty vicious on anything that will either wilt, fade or break down. It was quite a difficult challenge to come up with something that was affordable, workable and durable. I would love to have had plants because I believe they soften large "hard" exterior areas, but we have decided that we will do that with pots around the pool area. Still have that to do, even after all this time. :) Thanks everyone for re-igniting this chat. Jilly, hope you find something that works for you.

there is also a difference between ceramic and porcelain tiles - often these issues come down to a combination of (a) tile batch size/consistency (b) tiler's skill/capacity (c) communication in that if the tiler opens the tile box and he can't practically achieve what he thought he might because of the general discrepancies in size then they should at least speak to you before they start. So often with many issues in this game, it's about managing people's expectations and having open/honest discussions at the right time. When this breaks down, problems and disappointment is more likely to occur......so coming back to it, if you have high quality porcelain tiles that are millimetre perfect, square and flat then the capacity to lay them with minimal spacing is higher. Also the substrate/prep plays a part as if it's all out of whack and not perfectly straight/plumb/square then you'll be in all sorts trying to achieve the minimal tolerance detail.

I have a separate guest toilet without windows using a ceiling extractor fan - not a problem. I also have internal cavity sliding doors to bathrooms and toilets and love how they give extra space and options regarding placement of items. Another location alternative for you may be between the cinema room and the kitchen, depending on what you had planned for that extra space in the kitchen. Two metres is a wide hallway, if that is what it is? Ours is 1.3 which is considered wide (as we need to accommodate a wheelchair which has to turn into doorways). An advantage of a very wide hallway is it gives room for extra furniture placement such as bookshelves, linen or other cupboards if needed. I don't see a linen cupboard or pantry cupboard in your plans. Something else to think about is future proofing - try to cover future possibilities with regard to function, as making structural or fittings changes later can be more expensive, and may come at a time when you can least afford it (e.g. injured, disabled, children, aging or other such people visiting your home). Lives change, sometimes over time, sometimes in an instant, and suddenly the doors are not wide enough (especially the toilet door!), or the walls are not strong enough for a weight-bearing rail, and a host of other things. We put 900cm doors as a minimum and it makes life a lot easier, including moving furniture in and out. Universal Design principles are worth a look. Sadly these considerations are currently considered special or optional, although there are moves to change that, so that builders and architects will consider these things as standard.