As an architect, I have a list of words saved on my desktop that I am conscious can sound confusing to the client! One day I hope to write a little archi-dictionary to help clients work out what we mean when we use so many of the words that seem natural to us! 'Form', 'honest materials', 'warmth', 'documentation', 'draft', 'sketch plan', 'detail', 'mass', 'spine', 'circulation', 'water harvesting', 'floating', 'dynamic', 'heavy', 'celebrate'... etc.

I also would not paint or render the bricks - the ongoing maintenance is not worth it. Your house is crying out for a splash of red. The cream paint work could be in bright red. I don't like the central paved area with the hump in it. You do need to have your garden done - it would make an enormous difference to your home when done properly. A bobcat could take of that whole hump, taking the slope away from the house; currently the slope is draining towards the home. Where is north in the photo? It looks like a well built home, so be sparing on making too many changes. Its the external grounds that are letting the home down, which is so often the case.

4 weeks to completion, from the wall removal and new window install, this kitchen now has a whole new feel to it. the island just makes sense and removing the daggy tiles to reveal the original floorboards makes all the difference. not to mention the new appliances and their clever placement plus endless cabinet storage space.

It’s a tricky one @oklouise. The stencilled concrete wraps around the left hand side of the house where it becomes our entertainment area so while the driveway would look great dark and was my initial plan, it would mean the entire thing would have to be dark as their are no breaks in the concrete and as a house that was lets say unsympathetically designed for the block, having the paving dark in our entertainment area would make the whole space too dark. Definitely need to do something with that bloody gate! Might see if hubby can cut the metal to make it straight.