What a fantastic architecture. When you do the brick, if you stain it with masonry /concrete stain you won't have the same issues of maintenance as with paint. They will spray it evenly - through you will have to select a deeper color - either taupe (brown-gray) or a straight charcoal. Love your windows and the classic angled railing. I think a dark gray on the siding will make the orange brick jump even more. What bothers me is the white (railing, fascia, eaves) juxtaposed with the earth toned stuff. So I would recommend camel tones - for the siding - something like http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-family/SW6108-latte/ and the hopsack next darker tone for the garage door. Use the lighter tan for trim that is now white - http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-family/SW6107-nomadic-desert/ Use the darkest tone if you are painting concrete steps. If you think you will stain your brick charcoal, then the white eaves and trim are probably right, and you may not want to paint it tan now and then go back. If your brick were charcoal, then I would block out the rest in grays and blue grays - leave the white eaves, but take the railing and posts charcoal too. A blue gray door - like sw smoky blue.

It will be a very tight fit, but if you purchase a prefabricated - very small shower - it might work. The shower would have to be 36" wide with a corner entry, but I don't know how much room you have next to the toilet......? It's tight. so I am not sure about the width of the shower. You will have to measure the space. The stacking washer and dryer would be freestanding next to the shower at 24" wide. I agree that it would be better to have a tight bathroom and have more room in the kitchen.

Normally a hot tub comes with a means of heating the water, and maintaining it without having to empty the water. This is where water filtration and disinfection methods are worth it and less wasteful. It really doesn't matter whether it is stainless steel or not: you are heating up water to levels that naturally promote bacteria and algae. Hence the NEED for some type of disinfection - which can range from tossing in a chlorine table to add ozone or other types. I suggest you purchase a book entitled "What colour is Your Swimming Pool" 2003 edition. It will give you a practical guide to what you are looking for to maintain your spa tub and why you need to do it.

Thanks Mel. We'll see what we can do to make the rumpus enclosed - it's probably more of a "man cave" at the moment :) Grandad had a dining table in his current place (which is bigger) and got rid of it because he never used it. He also wants more bench space than he currently has. So, this was a deliberate choice rather than a compromise due to lack of space. You've reminded me now that someone did warn us earlier in the design process about the back and forth between wardrobe and bathroom becoming annoying over time. We don't currently have an en suite so it feels wonderfully convenient for us by comparison. However, that feeling will change if we realise it could have been even better. We did have the en suite off the wardrobe in some designs but have been warned this can lead to dampness in your clothes no matter how well ventilated the bathroom is (especially in Auckland's humidity). Would love to hear people's experiences of this configuration - good and bad. On top of that, there are lovely private bush views to the south so we've tried to make the most of those.