Excuse my duh-ness but i'm having difficulty trying to follow whats going on here. Are these two photos an exact replica of your house and pool ? If not a hasty sketch with dimensions could help a lot. By kitchen wall do you mean the wall behind the bar ? And where is the pool wall ? Are you considering the covered area as being "inside" ? Sorry for all those questions lol Sometimes when you have a design problem you need to turn it inside out or on it's head. If you can't beat it maybe embrace it by making a feature of it : i.e. contrast by having the lightest colored pool surround and a great blue or tile inside and under the overhang, something that will echo the water color ? If you have a great covered area as in photo you'll most likely be spending a lot of time there and it could be soothing to be able to sometimes retire into a darker inside. In my book, 10M isn't small and also contrasting two floor colors doesn't necessarily make a space seem smaller and confined and may in fact even open it up. Could it be that you've thought yourself into a box here ? Sometimes one needs to give it all a good shake up and see how it resettles.

Hi Rachael, Your asymmetrical house form is a very strong visual element and sits very well in this bold and rugged landscape. On the other side of the house from the entry door, the windows and doors are grouped and aligned to create a secondary relationship between them, which pleases the eye and works within the strong form. On the side with the entrance door, this doesn't happen. The scattered size and positioning of the woodstore, windows and doors do not work together to lead the eye to any particular place, nor do they relate to the form of the house. As a starting point, something to draw the eye to the entrance to invite people in will create a secondary focus. Because the house is a very strong form, you want to work with it or complement it, not try to create something that tries to outdo it. You also want something large enough to provide shelter both to keep people from the weather and to make it seem visually welcoming. You have a few materials already in this building, timber and stone, that you can use that will provide a contrast to the corrugate wall but will also make connections with the other parts of the building, and make the shelter become part of the whole rather than look like an afterthought. I would look at creating a porch form with enough visual strength to draw the eye and also try to tie in a few other elements to reduce the scattered look.

The colour of the exterior will be 1/2 grey friars, roof grey friars and doors shale grey. We have built a new garage which has created a walkway. Any suggestions for paving. Was thinking a blue stone? Will it go with those colours? Also some kind of porch from the front door with steps down to walkway. We have this long garden which I thought we could plant out, but I am clueless!! Any suggestions would be truly wonderful!! What would you do?

Kia ora, does anyone have any suggestions on what to line my garage walls with in my new home with please? It's a wood frame, and very cobweby which is partly why I want to line ito I don't have to clean it again. 1. Will I have to clean all the cobwebs and dust before I line it, or can I use the lining to hide them? 2. Do I line it from the bottom of the wall ams concrete slab or a bit higher up in case there it'sa ever flooding? 3. Will it be easy to line on my own?