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.

Hello Lisa..thanks for your comments - so kind of you. The pictures are not good (sorry) and to be honest whilst I'm renovating I don't have the courage the post much at all ..well at least until it's finished but here are a few enclosed. My real idea is to get a discussion going that we might all enjoy. and yes how light strikes (as in angle?) can impact on even the paint colour etc. I see so many questions from readers about wallpaper paint colour etc and yet experts and skilled people such as yourself will know that it's the cohesion that has to work and light can play such a huge part. A wallpaper can be purchased and then prove disappointing if used in different a light as can paint - which is why we use your good services where possible! I've a pile of boards each with different colours (I use linen style artists boards as I can shift them around - I leave a white border on them to allow a suitable contrast) The small bedroom picture with the striped curtains was more to show that curtain colour - it's now blended with duck egg blue paint (sorry it's a New Zealand company called Resene's so it won't be known of there but called Robin's Egg Blue), ivory carpets which I had edged in a green/blue wool. Before these drapes (Laura Ashley) were in a different room and just didn't work. The bedroom hasn't been finished (See? I'm still a tad embarrassed) but I mentioned these as with incandescent lights this curtain colour did not work at all. Taking my courage in both hands and uploading a picture of the main living area which is to be painted next to do away with the strong saturated green..very dark and gloomy as the natural light is very limited. Hoping you can't see the paint splotches on the wall. Another lesson I learned is to paint a surface white and THEN paint the choices. If we don't do this the original surface colour 'bleeds'. So I really hope to have others including myself recognise that we have to have one eye to the climate and outdoor colours all the time as well as the same paint colour possibly being different from room to room. Regards...and thank you once again for taking the time to reply.

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

I think the most impact would come from a well placed, well sized Acer. You can get them grown fairly tall already, Tamata have them and I'm sure there are other places. I'd get one that grows to no more than 3 metres (although check this against your property as scale is hard to gauge from photo), and has changing colours of leaves/bark. I'd place it towards the left of the property, looking at it. That will give some balance to the windows, provide some privacy but not obscure light. It wouldn't be a cheap option but cheaper than painting the house, and would need almost no aftercare. Then some easy care phormiums in the border underneath the windows. Both phormiums and acers come in a range of colours- limes, bronze, purples, oranges, dark reds etc, so choose what you like. The acers are soft and provide movement and variety, the phormiums sharp and provide solid consistent structure. This echoes the plants that can be seen already behind and at the side of the house and should make the hour 'sit within' its environment instead of bing perched on top of it. Also, the edge of the driveway- I would dig a border to just beyond the seam of the gate, lay down a weed mat, and put some stones in there. The garden centre has a range of them, in several colours from white through green red greys and blacks. If you chose reddish (or reddish and lime/orange) tones for your acer/phormiums, I would prob buy a large specimen plant in a pot for the top of the driveway, at the eight hand side of the garage, to link the colours. And maybe paint the front door and have some pot plants there that tone in too, especially in the area near the path that can be seen from the street. For a cleaner line I'd consider painting the lower part of the decking (the vertical frontage) to tone in with your house.