Deep gray and all the other accents in silvery old wood and cream. This will add drama, allow the other elements to bring ion light and set off the concrete wall as a true feature. If you want light instead of drama, then go for a very pale beige stone. It will echo stone colours in both the concrete and rocks...

I won't bother with lattice, barrels are partially obscured from the street by fencing and if I put it up I would have to work around the lattice in order to turn the valves for water. If I can just make better use of collected water I'll be happy. We are at the end of our growing season so I should be cleaning up the garden and putting it to bed for the winter, just can't seem to get motivated. We had our first frost last week. Usually, our average early frost date is 1 November. I got almost no produce from garden this year, but there is always next year. Chookchook2 I've seen some of those decorative metal panels and they are gorgeous, sure hope your budget will allow you to get some before too long. Most of our state has been on fire for a good part of the summer. The closest is across the river from us and they have been battling it for almost a month. Some friends have had to evacuate repeatedly. We've only been concerned once, a small grass fire on our side of the river on a day we had wind gusts up to 65mph. Fortunately, it was put out quickly. Australia and New Zealand have both sent firefighters to help with the blazes. I can't begin to tell you how appreciative we are. The closest fire was fought for almost a week by local volunteers only as there were no other resources available. They were all on other fires. The Army National Guard (reserve troops) were called out to help with support duties and for the first time ever the federal Department of Natural Resources (DNR) asked for civilian volunteers to help with non firefighting tasks, cutting fire breaks, moving supplies etc.

HI Madison There are pros and cons for every situation, but you need to work out what is best for your lifestyle. Personally, I agree with the carpet in the living room, and hard flooring in the kitchen/dining areas. All you need to do is work out your demarcation points (where carpet will meet hard flooring). A great retailer should be able to visit you at home, discuss options, give you pricing and away you go! (Us if you are in Auckland :) ) With littlies, I'd suggest a vinyl plank.....other posts will tell you I'm a big fan of it, but with kids, toys, mess, liquids etc, vinyl planks will give you the best wear over time. They are very hard wearing (Karndean have lifetime residential warranty), easy to keep clean, and waterproof - can be installed in all wet areas. Timber flooring, depending on which you choose (real wood, engineered wood, laminate), may not be the best "fit for purpose" products in your situation. Whilst I'm not trying to champion one product over the other, having had carpet with little kids, and putting drop sheets over carpet, under highchairs, why wouldn't someone not put in vinyl planks?

For a pass through window to be very useful, it needs a surface to place items that are being passed through, that can be easily reached from both sides, or you would need to coordinate people inside and out to pass things, which isn't feasible. I would consider whether it will be used as a pass through, given the door is immediately beside it. A small breakfast bar that uses the window for a view can also be useful for a pass-through set-down surface. Make sure the window is large enough to give a line of sight from person to person so that it is easy to communicate between the spaces - along the lines of 'Could you grab another beer?' or, 'I forgot the sauce.' I would also make the pass-through window a little wider if you do have a seating area, so it looks big enough to be welcoming, or it will be less likely to be used. At 2.500 deep, the deck is not large enough for a comfortable outdoor dining area of more than a couple of people. You need 600mm for comfortable seating on each side of a table, plus the table width which will be 900-1200, and with this layout, you also need another 900 mm to allow access past this, to the pass through, the seating and to the steps down, and with the deck being above ground level, space for access beyond the seating on both sides of the table is a good idea. If there is a barrier, you can get away without it because chairs won't fall off the edge, but it does make things tight. That adds up to at least 3000-3500 and preferably more. You can make things work with a tighter space, with a compromise to fixed seating along the edge, and a narrow table.