Thanks Orangecamera. It's still a work in progress and mud everywhere Sorry we did look at having the steps' off set' but it didn't seem to go with only three steps and a small area. And about the zen well the cats are doing that for us much to our disappointment (it's still like a litter box to them). We went to the garden supply place still not knowing what kind of stones we were getting. We stood in front of all the bins (there where many). We even looked at mixing some. The grey stones had a bin more the size we wanted but we ended up getting the golden fleck. It was a little smaller, which was a shame, the bigger ones were so mixed in their grading it looked too messy. So this is what we finished up with. It was seagardens that got me thinking away from grey and nwduck mentioning the drainage. So this has really helped. Also everyone seem to think the wooden steps needed to go a lot lower. Next it's figuring out where the large river stones should go

We just stained our section fences with Wattle Ebony from Mitre 10. Was looking for a charcoal color too, not much flexibility in color options with stains from the shelves at store. We sprayed on, rather than brushing. Is cost a concern? One of our to be neighbours was doing there fences at the same time with paint, he said he used nearly 100L of paint for 2 coats, we used nearly 50L in 2 costs - had similar amount of fences. I've included photo of it after the 2 coats

Hello Deb - sounds nice :) If you are going with High Gloss cabinetry this needs to be done 'perfectly' by your kitchen installer as gloss shows EVERYTHING. Just something to be careful of. www.cambridgecolour.co.nz elizabeth@cambridgecolour.co.nz

Solid Wood benchtops look great with any kitchen style. White kitchens can be transformed by the natural glow of timber. Darker kitchens can make use of the many stain options there are on today's market. To Stain or not to Stain? No doubt we have all noticed a swing towards darker tones in kitchens over the recent years. Colours often taking a more contrasting approach such as, blacks, golds, whites, charcoals and petrol blues. Some may ask, where does solid wood fit into this? Walnut is naturally a dark chocolate to charcoal color; the flecked grain creates texture that looks great paired with exposed stone or other industrial materials. If the client is prepared for the investment (and many are), walnut creates a strikingly moody and luxurious kitchen design. Stained Timbers can save a considerable amount if walnut does happen to blow the budget, with USA Oak or Bamboo able to create an equally striking impression while maintaining the texture and grain of real wood. Popular standard stain colors include Light and Dark Oak as well as Chocolate and Earth. Home owners love the darker tones combined with the distinctive wavy grain of Oak that creates a true centre-point for the kitchen. Which design would you choose?