Hello Moomin. Thank you for posting your query. A planting design takes time, weighing up the site, your style and maintenance. Year round structure for aesthetics as well as screening and privacy come first. Always a shame when planting is an afterthought after landscaping! However this is very common and I've had some experience of planting design commissions after landscaping has been done. My initial thoughts do not take into account many things which can't be conveyed in one photo provided here (as designers we take into account the various views within the garden amongst other things) but I will outline here a sketchy response to demonstrate some considerations. There have been some good suggestions made above. Jonathandb1972 has a good one, planting a carefully selected tree, so the canopy softens (but not hides) the view of the conservatory behind. Olive could be an option but depends on the aspect given that your a fellow Yorkshire resident! Alternatively there's Pyrus salicifolia, or Prunus lusitanica the latter responding particularly well to pruning to retain the size. Always talk to your neighbour about your careful choices and help them to understand that you've considered maintenance.... And the benefit of planting for them! For best results a planter at least 50cm deep and nearly as much wide to help a tree flourish. Deeper would be better. Keeping a collection of containers of the same/similar material would unify the view. Perhaps allowing a climber up the adjacent wall which faces you when descending the steps? A third container might fit in the corner in front of the downpipe? Although the dimensions of space available would determine if this is possible. The dark colour of the fence is receding and also provides a lovely neutral colour to show off the foliage of the specimen. A very rough sketch is shown here in a version of your photo below. I've just done it on the iPad so is a bit rough and ready. In order to avoid the tree becoming too much of a focal point (you're trying to avoid looking at the building behind) a bold evergreen plant to the left corner next to the steps would draw your eye within the garden. This could then be balanced out with another one to the right of the tree or possibly one up the steps against the fence. This all depends on scale and space available. This would be my first draft concept but might well come to a different response when seeing the garden for real. Happy planting!

If your looking for a high end look then why not try our Woburn artificial grass a real winner with a real softness feel. If you would like a selection of our samples contact richard@quickgrass.co.uk. Have approved installers or can fit yourself happy to talk project through. Here we see our Woburn used in this family home fitted R J Landscapes Oldham. Here we see a traditional garden again using Woburn fitted by Landscapia based in the midlands .Lots of Ideas on our gallery pages good luck with this project and can't wait to see the final result. Close up below taken by West London Artificial Grass showing how realistic our Quickgrass looks. Approved fitters west London

Yes two rugs could work well in that room. The dining room rug needs to sized so that the chairs don't snag on it. So either big enough for all four legs of the chair to sit on or small enough that the back legs don't snag, but not so small that the front legs snag. Does that make sense? I would go with a flat weave for practical reasons. The indoor/outdoor rugs are very practical with kids. The sofa rug needs to be big enough for all the seating to be overlapping some part of it and a bit of it should stick out past the sofa towards the dining table but not so much that the bench catches on it. Because there's a walk way there I would again go for a flat weave. Something with a very low profile or at least a low profile edge. We have one in our hall and one in our living room, both are walked "over" i.e. you have to cross the entire rug to get to the other side. We've never had any accidents or trips, but if your worried then consider sticking down the edges that face the doors. Buy artwork in lockdown?! With all this free time? You just need some art supplies and a few Bob Ross videos! Anyway with all the painting you've done recently, artwork should be a piece of cake!

I echo most of the comments above regarding the wisdom of living in the space for at least a year before changing too much. Some things which seem odd now you'll find are quite livable-with, whereas others which seem OK now will begin to grate after a while. We did this and have not regretted it. We also took professional advice, and where a couple of independent people (architect and builder, who didn't know each other, and didn't visit at the same time) made the identical suggestion, whcih we hadn't even thought of, we decided it was worth listening to. One of the best decisions ! Your ground plan is really unusual - I've never seen one quite like this, but I think it's lovely! That hallway is so sensible, with a door leading to the kitchen (which will be useful when you carry shopping in) and another to the living room (where you can usher guests). I'd think very carefully before ditching that ! I assume the upstairs has 2 bedrooms and a bathroom ? [Just speaking personally, that would suit us down to the ground - we'd have the 2 downstairs 'bedrooms' as a study for each of us, but so many options for those rooms !! We do now have a study each, but nothing like this layout was available when we were house hunting.] I wish you much joy in your new home - a big moment in your life !