Could you put the laundry behind doors so that you won't see it with the walk through...by the way...I am just over the water in OZ, know what you mean by costs... will get some pics....this would be my option...just going on what you are saying.... The good thing about this is that you can shut the laundry away except for when you are washing...... I would have the washer with the dryer next to it if you can and put a bench over the top of the both of them....for this it is worth getting a front loader if you haven't already got one.. this will avoid the bench on the other side...it can all be contained and done on the one side of the laundry. Don't go for sliding doors ...the glass look great but they will need a bottom track and if they don't have one...they will move a lot....not great for this even though they look great. As for having the bench over the top of the washer and dryer, you can then have overhead shelving, does not need to be cupboards as the bifolds will hide what is in there...double cost other wise. hope this helps...Robyn

The blue is awesome (grey is too trendy)! The reason it stands out to you is perhaps because it's the only real colour there. Bring in the blue in a window treatment, a small appliance that sits on the counter, a pretty tray or area rug. Also, it is more appealing often if there are more than 2 colours - so right now you have a white and blue colour scheme - bring in red or orange or fushia - something from the other side of the spectrum (like you did with the yellow flowers but in a more permanent way)!

Hi V Lyon. I'm a novice at this myself so I don't have any real comments except that what you're looking at doing seems nice. But I did want to ask is what program you used to do your proposed makeover? Was it just Photoshop? Or something else? I'm keen to try this on our 1970s house to get a feel for how it might look...

Thank you so much for the advice. Not sure about black as a colour choice but love navy blue. That would recede but then maybe the greens contrast not so effective? Or dark grey? My roof will be slate grey. Are these free standing mesh panels widely available? The only mesh with which I am familiar as mentioned has to be fixed to the wall or fence. I had thought that the support would need to be freestanding but as my area is also very windy (Lots of Norwesters) I will need to choose carefully from what is available so they are in themslves protected. I have planted jasmine before in Europe but not been successful with an abundance of flowers either in France or Uk, which Is why I didn't list it. However, I am willing to give it another go as the foliage and habit are lovely. Am now going to look up the hedging you mentioned. Was thinking of getting the garden landscaped by someone local to my area but I am sure, like you, they will wonder at the 1.8m restriction! Sadly my subdivision permits only oak trees ( which they removed when subdividing) to be planted which we know grow over 1.8metres. What they hoped to achieve by creating that constraint is beyond me but I am not going to go against it as someone down my road was 'made' to remove their newly planted magnolia trees as they were already over 1.8 when planted. Further I won't live long enough to see an oak tree grow to its prime! TIA of further comment. Kidssiam