Ozbern: we had a similar dilemma, lovely backyard and then they started tearing down bungalows and building four story townhouses all around us. I built a single depth pergola along the back property line, the beauty of this is not only the privacy, but it brings the scale of the yard down to make it feel more intimate when we are outside. We also added a 10' x 10' (little over three meters) pergola right up against the house where we had a wall of windows. Will try to find that photo too. We have coral vine now growing in it. Dies in winter, comes back in spring. You can always do more contemporary details if this is too casual.

Get the professional sander guys in to repair the living areas and kitchen but don't go too dark with the stain as it will kill the lovely grain in the matai. I'm thinking a couple of tones richer than the timber knots showing in your photo, definitely no yellow tone at all. In NZ stepping on to carpet especially in a kiwi winter is so much nicer than a cold floor board shock!!! A nice area rug for the lounge and you're done.

The all black kitchen looks scary as. Maybe because there's no lightness in there at all.

The freestanding bath fillers are vulnerable to being knocked. When you think about the physics of it, it is asking a lot of a small fixture to resist that amount of leverage. Talk to your architect. They should be able to come up with a support that fits with your design and is a bit more robust than the long and thin proprietary bath fillers. Also how far is your bath from the wall? If it is closer than 300mm I would still be waterproofing the wall, and with young children around I would waterproof it even if further away.