Dear @judibutler I assume you are referring to a wall which is wholly above ground and that you have completely ruled out damp tracking into the wall from above. A lot depends on the size and thickness of the wall and other factors, such as if the building is listed. Damp penetration (driving rain) through granite walls has been an ongoing problem in church towers in the southwest of England for some time. Ironically the problem often seems to get worse after re-pointing in lime. Granite is fairly impervious and was often in laid in large blocks meaning trapped water has little chance of getting out through thin mortar joints. Historic England held an excellent conference on the subject in 2013; the transcript of proceedings can be found at: http://content.historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/research/damp-towers-conf2013-programme-transcripts.pdf A roughcast lime render coat may help, but there could equally be voids in the wall which are holding damp and may need grouting. However, grouting is a very tricky and expensive technique which should not be undertaken lightly, and only works if one knows exactly where the voids are. Over-cladding the whole wall with semi-sacrificial weather boarding may be a last resort. This and rendering are likely to require planning consent. Depending on where you are located, a company like ArchiMetric (www.archimetrics.co.uk) could insert some interstitial moisture monitors into the wall to try and find out exactly where and when the damp is getting in and how it is moving through the wall, but this may be expensive. Some localised investigation by dismantling pockets of stone may be useful. The Society of Ancient Buildings helpline (mornings only on 020 7456 0916) may be able to help with specialists in your area. Most importantly try to get an understanding of how water is getting into and moving through your wall before you embark on anything. If your problems relate to below-ground damp then a different response will be needed.

Before. This room had #blue #fittedwardrobes I could not move, was rather dark as north facing and needed #modernising, so I fitted a new larger pendant, added side lights and side tables, painted in a couple of diff greys and added a blue wall behind the bed, to balance the deep blue on the wardrobes. Fitting new carpets, window boxes and plants, and styling with fresh new bedding along with a pop of yellow in the central cushion, certainly brightened and freshened up this room. .

OMG, loving this one.

@ angm47 - Nice garden! It's the opposite to yours. Mine slopes upwards towards the far end, so I've added steps on the drawing, see the two horizontal double lines. So there would be 4 changes in level in total inc the last one behind the gabion retaining wall. I'm expecting a fair amount of ground excavation regardless of final design. PS I'm really into grids and straight lines so not opting for anything circular. @campo73 - nice isn't it! Yeah it's the same, 9x5 grid of 600m@ slabs, making the shorter side 3m wide, plus I've added another slab width path to two sides, making it even wider for chairs to be pulled out. I noticed the smaller table too. Thanks for the tip on the stone choice. @rachelmidlands - thanks for your additional feedback! @JBS Ltd - I agree that a light coloured slab would look more contemporary, which is what I'm after, but I'm reluctant to if they will go green all the time :-S You read my mind on the planting, I already have some miscanthus I'm potting up ready for action. As for the perennials, I'm going to go for strong stemmed ones with winter seed interest, rudbeckia goldsturm for example. I quite like the idea of a late season garden, like Joanne Bernstein's (bloody gorgeous garden and a BIG inspiration that one - see pic link http://farm1.static.flickr.com/343/19951288828_3accea0675_b.jpg. @Jen P - Yeah I thought it'd fit too - the size is 3.0x5.4m - it's hardly small! Whilst I like angm47's garden I am opting for straight lines, grids, no curves. Plus, crucially, (if anyone's noticed) I've brought ALL the planting areas away from the yew hedge boundary consciously, from a practical point of view. I'm trying to design it with manageability in mind as well as aesthetics. Plus I quite like the idea of bringing the focus inwards rather than putting it on the borders around the edges. Plus, I'm not so bothered if the garden is long and rectangular, because its easy to change when the kids grow up :) @colourhappy - totally agree - if you see everything at once you give the game away. So I've put in screening features with line of sight from the living room in mind. Re 45 degree angles, oh god that means a complete re-design :-) I've been told to 'work with what you've got' in the past, so taking that on board, my design grew from the existing raised brick border on the right that's parallel with the boundary. I'm not sure I could/want to change it all and and keep that there at the same time. @fran11home - thanks for the tip I'll check it out!