Hi there, You might try and change the colour of your bulbs if it's the artificial light causing the colour distortion. Ie they usually do a warm white or a cool white in bulbs so it's worth trying that first. If it's natural light causing it then accessory wise you could go with any colour. Red, hot pink & even a rich cobalt blue (mostly warm tones) would brighten it up a bit.

Not sure what your budget is, but how about a Pergola? It would look absolutely beautiful, doesn't cost a bomb to install and you could add some fast growing vines, be they flower or grape, or a mixture of both, whip the slabs up, lay a plastic membrane and then whack a couple of tons of peashingle down. To finish it off, I would remove the wall in front of the patio and replace it with some large planters containing box hedging, rosemary, or lavender. A little touch of the continent, right on your backdoor step and you won't even need to go through passport control!

The main question is do you want to see a vista from the patio or do you want to create "rooms" down the length of the garden? Once you decide that, do you want the garden to have sharp angles or to flow gently? Do you have children and/ or pets? Measure the garden and draw a plan just as you would for your internal spaces. At the present, you have straight side borders with grass between, then an area of dirt with your dryer. Do you like a straight path or one that winds its way? If you create rooms, will they have different purposes, like playing football? Do you want to incorporate a water feature? Look at books on garden design for ideas. Ways of dividing the garden length symmetrically might be to create an arch with climbing plants halfway down with a water feature further back near the trellis by the garage. Using your hosepipe, try laying out curving edges to your beds to help imagine what they would look like with asymmetrical, sweeping lines. Gardens are about creating relaxing spaces that are enjoyable to be in. If you have ideas that you can't seem to bring together, a garden designer can draw up plans for you to carry out yourselves. Enjoy.

Thank you for your kind comments. Our original kitchen was a dark and dingy internal one with only one fan light above a solid door giving very little borrowed light. Last year we opened up the original doorway near the sink, to make way for the tall window to the hall, then we closed off the original door and replaced it with another tall window, and to finish it off, we turned the room around to give a full length of units and worktops, and installed a full length glass door with fanlight almost to ceiling, and the result is that we still have an internal kitchen, but with loads of borrowed light from all over the place. It now never gets dark. We opted not to have drainage flutes as we have a full size dishwasher, and this allowed us to maximise the lemgth of worktops. I am reliably told that flutes on granite or Quartz worktops are a waste of time and space. Perhaps I should say that I (68) designed the kitchen, including the windows and door, and my husband of 75 installed the kitchen units, did the plumbing, with only the worktops being done by the supplier. It is perfectly level and he has done an amazing job, perfectly level! As for th alessi trivet, that was a treat after weeks of disruption (May 25th to August 29th. Too complicated to give details) and I feel the need of another Alessi treat coming on very soon!