The log burner is in the heart of our home, in a open plan living / dining / cooking space, the warmth reflects on the floorboards and i can drag a chair in front of it to curl up and cosy. I would love to ask any advice on the best type of slow burning logs to buy?

I would agree with pannacotta and take out the blue spruce. I would then get someone in to take everything out - the shed, the pond, the narrow path, the lawn, the odd sleeper demarcation across the garden and the gravel. You will then have a clearer picture of your space. With the conifer removed there will be a large space at the far end of the garden, and it will no longer suck the water from the garden. Perhaps include some pleached hornbeam trees on the right and at the far end to make the garden feel more private, yet allow filtered light in to your garden. You have a wall at the far end, which is a great feature. It looks like the entire garden is enclosed, which is great from a safety point of view for the children. A garden building/office is a great addition, but it can become a storage place. Before buying one, really way up the pros and cons of having one. I am designing a family garden at the moment with a garden office towards the rear, but the father works from home and really needs his own space - however, it will double up as a TV room/den for the kids at night. Work out the actual size of building you actually need, rather than just putting one in to fill the space. If the orientation is correct the right hand side gets most sun. I would, as suggested put pleached hornbeam trees along the run, and have a path to one side, along this run, perhaps with a dog-leg at the far end. The path would be in the sun most of the day and would stay clearer from moss, etc. You could incorporate an off-set pergola above a section of the path perhaps positioned towards the centre of the length of the path and climb evergreen clematis or hydrangea petiolaris - this will also assist with blocking out the building behind when seated lower and closer to the house. Perhaps split the garden then in to 3 zones: zone 1 close to the house becomes a paved seating/entertaining space; zone 2 is the centre of the garden, which would be the children's turfed play area, and then zone 3 at the far end either becomes a building or a hidden seated area for grown-ups with well-designed planting around it and a pergola attached to the wall to offer privacy and shade. You could even have a long table and benches for al-fresco dining, under a canopy of sweet smelling jasmine and roses. With good lighting, this space could be an enticing area. The Edwardian/Victorian façade of the house makes me think of a family cottage garden with a contemporary twist (with veggies and cut flowers grown together). Flowering shrubs, bulbs and perennials will help to soften the walls (but remember, the walls can be a great feature in themselves). This may sound like a lot of upkeep, but with the right choice of plants you only need to spend c. 1 hour a week to keep on top of things (a little more in the winter to tidy things up (but not too tidy, i.e. leave flower seedheads and grasses for winter interest)). But remember to keep planting close to the house low with the line of sight from indoors to outdoors, so that you can keep an eye on the children. This is a great space to have. Have fun and enjoy it.

One has to question what is going on here, as you appear to feel your house does not make a 'good enough' statement? My first reaction to the exterior was to recoil at the rather 'pushy' cars parked outside, plus the tragic pvc door and weatherboarding! Apart from that the house looks to be quite a sensible, space-efficient design with the reduced heat losses that a terrace brings... Your house is not an individual, but is part of a row of three or even more, meaning that anything you do should take into account the others, be sympathetic and integrate with them. My attitude as a sustainable design consultant would be to only spend money on things that really need upgrading, and only do that with the greatest care so that you do not harm the structure and take into account condensation risk etc. Think carefully about the effect all your changes will make to heat loss and your space heating requirements! Also consider any possible overheating via glazing and be aware that glass has one of the highest carbon footprints while insulation is really low. Remember that every penny you spend earning money comes with an environmental footprint, and when you spend this money you then add a further environmental impact! The obvious areas which could be improved are wall insulation, glazing, doors and air-tightness. Any new glazing should be designed to give really low whole-window U values and should use warm-edge spacers. For me PVC is out of the question as it is rubbish, looks tacky and reduces glazing area. If you are using timber, then look into using Accoya, douglas fir or oak. Velfac certainly make quality windows and doors, but it would be better if all the houses installed them to keep the facade consistent. Thermally broken Nordan, SAS Pure, Aluprof slimline are other windows/doors to check out. If the weatherboarding is to be replaced, then I would advise using Marley Eternit Cedral or Cedral Click (Cembrit also offer a pressed cement board) which will never rot, but again, consider getting your neighbours to join in). You can paint this yourself with Dulux weathershield. Most cedar cladding looks awful once the UV light starts to break it down and the rain gets in. To me, the way we live our lives on the planet is much more important than the way things 'look'. People are exploited by the fashion and interior design companies into spending money on short-term whims and froth which all impact on the resources the planet creates for us. That is not to say that good design is unimportant -take a Harry Bertoia chair for instance - classics that just go on for ever. My motto is KEEP IT SIMPLE & SUSTAINABLE - QUALITY RATHER THAN QUANTITY. Hope this is helpful.

Moved from a lovely 2 bed flat in Ealing to a 3 bed Victorian mid terrace in Hitchin in North Herts on the train line into Kings Cross/Moorgate in 2011. I struggled to leave the city but our town is v lovely and unique for commuterville in that there is a lots on offer on our high street both for shopping and entertainment. That said, we've sold to move a little closer to a big city again. Moving 10 miles north of Brighton later this year. I love our house and the space but after 5 years I feel I need more than there is on offer here and once we leave this town, it's a 30 minute (usually more) drive minimum to get anywhere with more on offer. I'm a city girl through and through and though I can no longer afford to live in one, I need to be close to one. Space is great, but think of what you do with your spare time, though it's pretty fab for where we are, I feel I outgrew this town of 35,000 people in less than 5 years.