Thanks Orangecamera. It's still a work in progress and mud everywhere Sorry we did look at having the steps' off set' but it didn't seem to go with only three steps and a small area. And about the zen well the cats are doing that for us much to our disappointment (it's still like a litter box to them). We went to the garden supply place still not knowing what kind of stones we were getting. We stood in front of all the bins (there where many). We even looked at mixing some. The grey stones had a bin more the size we wanted but we ended up getting the golden fleck. It was a little smaller, which was a shame, the bigger ones were so mixed in their grading it looked too messy. So this is what we finished up with. It was seagardens that got me thinking away from grey and nwduck mentioning the drainage. So this has really helped. Also everyone seem to think the wooden steps needed to go a lot lower. Next it's figuring out where the large river stones should go

This is where the kitchen is going to be. Where my husband is will be counter top at that height. with a big wide counter top to sit under. on the back wall double door fridge a metre gap. 2 wall ovens then a sliding door where the ladder is. A scullery. Behind my husband to the side of him a sink the cooker then space. Where the big flat plank is on the ground (ish) will be the movable island. you can see a taster of the stone wall which will be on both sides of the entrance hallway, the flooring will look very similar to this http://carpetdiscounters.co.nz/product.aspx?product_id=441 . You may note the steel next to my husband on that side. it also needs to be treated. Thank you very much

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

Is your stone veneer to be laid on a slope? I would want to see an example of that beforehand. The stones in a sloped wall are still set horizontally, but the veneer will have joints that look skewed if laid sloped so it could look quite odd.