As the appearance of the garden has a modernist style with the straight lines and concrete furniture how about a Mondrian influence and add a bold strip of blue? It is a pond and with the right shade it could look really relaxed and contemporary. My daughter's suggestion is a chalky lilac!

Hi! I hope you are well. I think it would be a good idea to give a bit of colour to the kitchen. I am agree with you to choose a wallpaper for the window wall. There are a lot of wall covering to choose...what is the style that you are looking for? I have a few ideas that maybe can fix very well in the kitchen. Contact me at any time and we can discuss about different options of wallpaper for your kitchen. Regards, Carmen.

Your layout for you kitchen looks really good and would fit well with the mixture of black and white cabinetry. With the lament bench top, we would suggest melamine (entry level cabinetry) or acrylic bench top, which can come in high gloss feature or matt. The matt surface would go lovely with your choice of bench top, and acrylic is also a affordable cabinetry material. Below are some examples of how Reno4u has incorporated both black and white cabinetry together, without making it to dominantly dark. We feel as if these examples would be perfect for your layout, and depending on if you want more black cabinetry or white you can go either way. This design above is an example with more black than white, can be made matt or gloss with different handles/splash back and wallpaper. With a u shaped kitchen similar to yours, however from the pictures you provided your style may include different design below the island bench. Another kitchen designed by us which shows more white than black, with a bar built in which may suit your design better. We hope this helps you, please feel free to call us on 03 423 9067 and we can provide a free quote for materials and kitchen design, and help you finalise your design further. :)

Hi Joanna, There is a lot of different options to make this work for you. The landscaper is correct that you can have pavers under the spa. Typically in this situation we would pour a reinforced concrete pad to create the foundation and then wet lay the desired paver over the top. As long as the pavers have a solid base underneath them there shouldn't be any issues. Removing the timber retaining will definitely open up more space although correctly planting this could also create a great nestled in area and make it a great feature. As far as choosing the right paver for the space it probably has more to do with the house and the other areas. One option is getting a paver that contrasts with the cladding on your house and is similar to your joinery / roof colour. Have a look at www.urbanpaving.co.nz for some options, depending on budget I would either look at the Sandy textured coloured pavers or a natural stone option. Thanks, Will