Hi. I have a couple of ideas. First, I'd rule out trying to flatten it to one level - it is very expensive, even though it doesn't look like it is a big deal to do. You'd end up with retaining walls around the sides and back and have to redo the fencing and labour costs would be big because the access isn't good (think wheelbarrows of dirt for weeks!). Second, I'd talk to the church. Say that you want to trim the holy bushes so that they are level and lower. Tell them you'll pay for that (rent a hedge trimmer for a day - less than £100) but will need access from their side too for trimming and to clean it up (because you are a nice friendly neighbour :). Then say that you are worried about the trees because you think they are getting so big they might be dangerous and they should be trimmed. I'm not suggesting they should be cut down. If they are under a Preservation Order, they are protected, but trimming is normal and healthy for a tree. I know if the tree is in the street the council has to do it and where I used to live "the Swiss church" (never got any more info than that) had a giant horse chestnut tree that they had to trim every five years because it was massive and surrounded by everyone's back gardens. I don't know about the legality of all of that but a third alternative is for everyone affected by the super large trees pitches in and pays for the trimming. There will still be leaves, but their will be less and you'll have more light back there. Anyway, on to the more interesting bit. In the spring, hire a Karcher (a high powered hose) to clean off the green from your fences and your patio area. It'll also clean out all the muck on your little retaining walls. Then I would stain all the fences the same colour - Cuprinol stains and protects the wood too. I'd keep the front as a patio for a table and scooter laps, keep the middle as lawn with narrow garden beds on either side and plant honeysuckle in a couple of corners of the pergola - it is slow growing at first but easy and very low maintenance (and doesn't drop much stuff!). A hammock is a lovely idea for under there. Let it go back to lawn so you aren't worried about falling toddlers. I'd move all your nice pots down to the patio area and group them. It is really easy to put herbs and annuals in them in the spring for colour. As nasmijati recommended, the back section could be rubber tiles or a sandpit. I can't tell if it is paved at the moment or just sodden grass.... if soggy grass, do the sandpit, if paved, put the rubber tiles over the top. You can move the little playhouse back there. Now you should have plenty of areas for the kids AND the adults. Oh, and get a couple of kids rakes for Christmas and teach them how to help their mama with the garden! I hope that helps.

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All of the above is fabulous, but probably very expensive. So, I came up with an amendment for a high sleeper. I took this High sleeper bed available from Wayfair I took the top layer off and moved it down. I was worried that if you put a desk at that level, then you need something around the sides high enough, so that if you move the chair backwards, you aren't going to fall off. If you put the desk at one end, then you can use the whole length for moving up and down. So this is what i had in mind. The blue bit marks where i placed thick ply wood across the slats for extra support. ( A big thank you to my 6 year old grandson Freddie who came up with the idea to start with, well done Fred )

That’s very clever Marina. I love the snug . I had a bit of a rearrange of our existing furniture yesterday and think I’ve convinced them to have an l shaped sofa by the window and in front of the fire. We’ll use the space on the left wall for the office and also have some space for our daughters to do their art and school homework. The existing sofa and cabinet are pieces that we brought back with us when we moved from Florida back to the UK, and to be honest, they have always been a bit too big for a UK home. Because of the conservatory (which has internal thermal panelling, the room can be a bit dark, so instead of the dark partition, do you think something like glass bricks would work?