Yes to whitewashing!!! Also paint the doors and trim white, in my opinion the floor can stay if it is hardwood, or maybe painted dark charcoal white, polished concrete sounds great, too. And yes to pendants, maybe the bird cage ones that seem to be very popular. Reupholster sofas in a solid white or blue, put a large blue and white striped rug and white curtains.

Personally I think you are better to wait until you can afford to put back an in ground pool as the one's that I have seen sitting above the ground look like an eye sore - a temp pool - that looks like it could collapse at any time. Maybe while you save for the bigger project you could rent / buy a large Spa Pool.

We have had a vinyl lined pool for 15+ years - you are making a good choice. They need no maintenance or resurfacing etc. Ours is an Aqualux liner in Caribbean. http://www.aqualuxpool.com.au/colour-range/ This colour is just the right amount of blue/green to sparkle and shimmer, look cool and inviting, but dark enough to gather and retain the sun's heat. I ran a swim school for many of those 15 years, and needed a pool that could take the knocks of hundreds of children each week, and look like something they wanted to dive into. Any lighter and the pool would look too cold, and darker looked scary! I have friends who chose the darker colours for their heat retention properties but the pools don't look as inviting, and algae builds up quicker but is harder to notice until the levels are quite high, so needing more chemicals to control/eliminate.

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