Hi definitely remove the x bars on the deck balustrade. Landscape close to the house so it grounds the house. Trees will make it look less bare. Chose some that work for your area, that are evergreen, and are not going to grow really big. With a really plain house - dark colors will make it look better. Dark Grey, or black with a warm tone so it doesn't have a blue undertone in it. Make sure it is a warm grey or black. Use green foliage around it. Paint out the pergola in the dark grey too or white if you want a different look. Fill in the balustrade where the x is removed with plants in front of those areas. Grow a vine up the pergola that is nice.

I won't bother with lattice, barrels are partially obscured from the street by fencing and if I put it up I would have to work around the lattice in order to turn the valves for water. If I can just make better use of collected water I'll be happy. We are at the end of our growing season so I should be cleaning up the garden and putting it to bed for the winter, just can't seem to get motivated. We had our first frost last week. Usually, our average early frost date is 1 November. I got almost no produce from garden this year, but there is always next year. Chookchook2 I've seen some of those decorative metal panels and they are gorgeous, sure hope your budget will allow you to get some before too long. Most of our state has been on fire for a good part of the summer. The closest is across the river from us and they have been battling it for almost a month. Some friends have had to evacuate repeatedly. We've only been concerned once, a small grass fire on our side of the river on a day we had wind gusts up to 65mph. Fortunately, it was put out quickly. Australia and New Zealand have both sent firefighters to help with the blazes. I can't begin to tell you how appreciative we are. The closest fire was fought for almost a week by local volunteers only as there were no other resources available. They were all on other fires. The Army National Guard (reserve troops) were called out to help with support duties and for the first time ever the federal Department of Natural Resources (DNR) asked for civilian volunteers to help with non firefighting tasks, cutting fire breaks, moving supplies etc.

Hi There, Not sure if you are still looking for art/canvas for your space, but I'd thought id share my work with you. I'm a contemporary Aboriginal Artist located in Newcastle NSW. My works have been commissioned for a number of personal and commercial spaces including John Hunter Hospital, OPSM (Luxottica) Australia, St Vincents Hospital Sydney and Taronga Zoo, to name a few. My artworks have also won a number of prizes including Singleton Art Prize, OneSight Global Ray-Ban Wayfarer Indigenous design which saw my artwork produced on Ray-Ban Wayfarers and Wild at Taronga where I painted a full size rhino. The following artwork is a 2 panel piece and tells the story of our nations’ journey and the coming together and sharing of culture. Large red meeting circles, central within the design, are connected reflecting unity and reconciliation across cultural diversity. The continuous unbroken smaller circles woven throughout the piece are symbolic of community, Government and Corporate and the commitment to work together around shared vision to create better futures for our children. Linked to together the circles are also representative of the inevitable flow of future generations and a passing on of the baton to our youth. Size: 600 x 1200 x 2 http://www.saretta.com.au/collections/online-gallery/products/cross-cultures-series-2 I also have a number of other artworks at www.saretta.com.au. All the best with your design. Saretta

This made me laugh: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jun/09/seagull-turns-orange-after-falling-into-vat-of-chicken-tikka-masala I couldn't copy the picture, but it's hilarious.