An all weather outdoor shower is easily done by locating the mixing valve inside the house and use a coupling shaft to locate the handle on the outside. You must use a standard tub type lower faucet (with the pull up to activate the shower) to allow the system to drain out when the shower is done. You also have to make sure everything slopes in direction of the water flow. We live in Bancroft Ontario so winters are well below freezing and we have been showering outside for 3 winters. Only issue we have is the shower head will freeze so we typically remove it after a shower or shower without it on when really cold. The system has worked well and it helps that nothing special needs to be done by anyone. no inside valves to close etc. Just turn off tap and everything drains.

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.

Thanks for responding. We're in Auckland, New Zealand and close to the sea. Outdoor living is quite important but it does get chilly in winter so it's a balance. There are three adults and two young children in the household (one of the adults is an Au Pair who likes to spend time in her own room in the evenings). The kids will watch their cartoons generally in the morning and a bit before dinner. Then in the evening my husband and I will relax and watch TV. Right now the kids' toys are in the family room downstairs. We are foodies and like cooking. Generally when guests come over we all hang out in our small kitchen at the moment. The dining table we use for every meal time. We also like the idea of being able to get to the deck from the kitchen, rather than having to carry food in summer through the lounge/dining. The entry way is that big in order to reduce on the structural work but also in order to ensure that the door to the staircase is not in the lounge.

value to you or value when you put your house on the market? it depends on the project. yes, a well maintained driveway and tidy yard will *help* sell a property. elaborate/hard to maintain landscaping won't. many people actually will think 'wow that will take forever/cost a fortune to keep looking like that.' i think more people want easy care as their first priority, and wont pay any extra for an overdone yard. so these days, i'd go all minimalist for resale value. small grass area with automatic sprinklers in areas where expected rainfall will support it, more stone mulch and low water plants in areas that are dry. ticks are a problem and mosquitos as well, so a wildflower border needs to have a defined edge with grass/stone before sitting areas. the nice night lighting no one will ever see when you are selling your house unless its the sort that has its photos taken at night with all the lights on. we've just overhauled our pool area at our vacation home; our theory there is that we want the house to be at all times 100% ready to put up for sale when the day comes that its not fun to own any more. so that $25K won't improve the value of the home, it will keep the home saleable. and we'll get to enjoy it til then.