Jacinta, am very sorry to hear that you've had no luck with your project pursuits......but may I also add your story is unfortunately not too uncommon and it doesn't surprise me...........after doing this for a fair while now may I add a comment or two.....skimming through the post above, a completely underestimated and often overlooked skill required by a design professional, whether categorised as an architect, designer, drafty or whatever is their capacity to manage the client's expectations of what is viable in a certain situation for a certain budget with their experience and knowledge. Yes construction costs have risen, and will continue to do so, and that's nothing new. $350K depending upon what you're doing and where, once upon a time was a healthy budget, but not anymore when you stack up the components. that is not to say that you cannot do anything, but to achieve something you'll need to be working with people who are all over the current construction costs and can help you strategically and logically consolidate your priorities simultaneously within the design/creative process to resolve an appropriate solution. There is always a (creative) solution to a scenario and a way to successfully navigate/negotiate challenges such as council limitations, challenging context, budget or whatever. Honestly, as a designer that's the easy bit, the hard(er) part is managing people in negotiating their particular "wants" and expectations and relative costs. What I understand really gets to people (like you have clearly experienced here ) is the unpleasant surprise and disappointment down the track after investing time and money with a company/designer in believing that you're working towards a feasible outcome when in reality the concept/direction is revealed to be non-viable, stonewalled or beyond budget. To avoid exactly this issue I service the front end of projects very broadly considering hard costed concept scenario options and hence "cutting to the chase" in order to appropriately align project requirements and project budget against the relevant specific contextual backdrop. Very quickly we endeavour get a realistic and accurate handle on whether a particular project direction is going to be viable or not and manage the client's expectations appropriately and fairly with minimal time and investment from their end. Depending upon the client and situation this step of the process initiates recalibration of client expectations (on budget or brief) and identification of what is possible one way or another so moving forward can occur with confidence and efficiency. From experience this has proven to avoid the exact situation you've unfortunately experienced. This should not be a "nightmare", rather it should be an exciting time in the process. At the end of the day it all comes down to money, it is invariably the ultimate controller of the decision-making process and accordingly you need to find and work with people who inherently understand this and can design honestly for you with respect to this factor and your specific needs. I hope this helps in some way and completely understand and sympathise with your situation :)

there are way too many colours going on here. Your home is a traditional style and yes the cream and green are traditional colours with the reddish brick however why did you put grey around the windows??also you have red scollops above the grey and it doesn't do the house justice. What colour was there before you painted the grey?? considering grey is a more modern colour I think you were attempting to modernise the externals. in saying that the roof would have been better to paint charcoal the cream in white and then the grey and then the driveway would be done in a grey stain. but if you leave it the way it is and cover the red scolloping above the windows the same grey and the bricks below the windows near the ground grey as well then get the drive way restained to the reddish colour of the bricks on the house and then it would blend more and look inviting.

Hi There Brian, I have been pondering your UK project, and like all big cities around the world, affordability is out of reach of most. Harking back to the Aussie House built which was once garage and is now a 5 story home. Is you your plan part of a complex? or is there opportunity for access to a roof top?. My concern is to make the most of internal space, the first floor would be Ok, but for top end dollar I would like to see two good sized bedrooms with ensuite, to accommodate 2 professionals or 2 adults and child/guest. Is there anyway that the 1.5 down stairs out door space could be included as internal space and part of the bedrooms, with glass panels/skylights opening, with blinds for privacy. This would then do 3 things allow more fresh air and light along with space for decent ensuites and WIR. I think that the 1,5 if allowed is more important for internal space. If you do have access to roof top the laundry could be moved back up to the entry level. Also have you considered a single stair case, is it a modern contemporary house. Just thinking cheers

You could try Wet & Forget on the driveway. You can buy it ready to use and attach it to a hose or buy a bottle that you dilute to use in a sprayer. I have used it and it works - slower than water blasting but it won’t damage driveway if it has some damage? I can’t quite tell from photo if that’s grass clippings/mulch or broken concrete on driveway? If you use it be careful not to spray garden bed. I live in FNQ and we planted seaside daisy - doesn’t need watering but it also won’t die from our wet season. It’s a ground over and spreads out beautifully in a courtyard area that’s get a lot of sun. Just needs a trim from time to time. I see you have Rio (purple green ground cover) which you could separate and plant down the path but it does like water. Maybe for the fence you could try attaching lattice to it and plant another passion fruit vine to help cover the whole fence. It does look like you need to get rid of some woody parts of the passion fruit. It’s a tough plant and will enjoy a bit of pruning. We had one that I thought had died last year and it has returned with no help from me. Be careful with the heliconias and gingers ... they can get out of control if you don’t stay on top of them. Anything tall will cover your fence but it will also cover the passionfruit vine which obviously loves the spot it’s in. Good luck!