Would this letterbox style suit a brick face fence?

So we have finally found a bricklayer to do our front fence. And just when I thought I had the letterbox sorted out, I came across these custom made ones. Although, they look very modern and I am worried might not suit our traditional facade. What do you think? Should we stick with the original ones I had in mind?

We’ve got a 1.1m long wall to work with. What combination do you think would look best?

Also, what are your thoughts on A4 letterbox slots with no ability to drop off small parcels? Is that the standard these days? I have a love/hate relationship with junk mail and we don't and will not be having any magazine/newspaper subscriptions.

Our house and future brick fence:

These are the letterboxes I was thinking of getting initially...

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Front fence proportions ... what do you think?

So the front yard landscaping and fence plan is not yet finished, but with your help I am getting there :)
Thank you lovely people for all your help to date.
What pillar height should we go for? I've drawn them as 1.6m high. What do you think? Make them smaller?

Also, what do you think of the wall height? I've drawn the hedges behind the fence and along the front path as 1m tall, and the wall in the first drawing is 300mm and in the second 600mm high, what do you think? Which do you prefer, if any?

1.6m pillars, 1m hedge and 300mm wall

1.6m pillars, 1m hedge and 600mm wall

Do you think the brick fence in a matching brick as our house would look too matchy? Should we instead get it rendered? Or something else perhaps?

Also, our fence footings are only 300mm wide, do you think 300x300 posts look .... too skinny? What can we do to improve the appearance?

Do you think the two posts so close to each other in between the front path and the driveway looks odd?

PS. You will notice that I removed the hedges along the fence on both sides. I am worried that our 400mm garden bed in between the driveway and fence is way too narrow for a hedge and that it would be too high maintenance and/or scratch our cars :( - I will leave this for a separate post I think. Ugggh. So many things to consider, so many decisions to be made...

PS. don't forget to enter my giveaway for your chance to win one of three organic lip balms.

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Landscaping and portico tiling decisions. Help!

Should we match the pathway to our exposed aggregate driveway or do something prettier? I am considering stepping stones or crazy pavers. I would love to hear your suggestions, as always.

Also, we still need to tile our portico. What we do there, should it match the front path? Or not really? I guess as long as they complement each other, right? I am thinking matte tiles, but am open to suggestions. 

Look forward to reading your opinions :)

 

Images from pinterest, google and real estate

 

 

The colour of our exposed aggregate

 

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Front yard landscaping - what width/height boxed hedges?

Does choosing the size and height of boxed hedges have anything to do with the size of the house? If we match the width of our path to that of our front doors, we will have 1.1m for the hedge. What height and width boxed hedges (when fully grown) should we aim for?

We plan on doing a front fence, should the hedge match the height of the fence pillars?

PS. I'd still love to hear your thoughts on my Entrance dilemma :)

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Driveway at last! And arched windows...

After living in the house for over a year, we've finally got a driveway!!! We went with Boral Salt and Pepper and exposed aggregate and got the plinth and path around the front of the house done as well. We are so glad we chose a great concreter this time. We still need to acid wash the bricks at the front, paint the plastic part of the downpipes, and are thinking of sealing the exposed aggregate. Has anyone had this done before? What are your thoughts? Is it worth it?

Remember this post? Well, after all we ended up going with this instead:

Even though in my pictures the difference in concrete doesn't look like much, in reality, we would have been left with a tiny grass patch had we gone with the option I had originally decided on. It was a difficult decision, because I wanted matching hedges AND as much grass as possible, so I left it up to MrB to make the final call. I don't like what I've been left with, but I am glad that I wasn't the one who made the final decision. Strange, I know...

Thank you to all who provided feedback on my Arched Windows in Modern/Traditional homes post! If anyone missed it, I'd love to hear your feedback too.

Here it is:

The exterior of our home is very traditional, but the interior is a mix of modern and traditional. We've got a fairly modern (glass balustrade) staircase and a contemporary kitchen and bathrooms ... However, none of the finishes are ultra modern, and are in my opinion fairly traditional/timeless. Eg. white kitchen, hardwood flooring, grey stone look tiles etc.

Do you think we should make the three arched windows a feature on the inside, or should we cover them ? Two of them are in bedrooms, and one is in the open space where the staircase is ... I've always thought that arched windows look wrong in contemporary spaces, but I would love to hear your thoughts.

Our ensuite, facade & kitchen

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Strappy plants for a narrow garden bed between driveway and fence

I am still in the process of talking MrB into having a garden bed between the driveway and the fence.

• I think some greenery would be a nice way to break up the heavy-ness of the light coloured exposed aggregate driveway and cream fence.
• MrB hates the idead of plants anywhere near cars, and is concerned that they would scretch them...

So, what I'm thinking is some not-too-bushy strappy green plants with mulch around it.  What do you think? I've tried to find some lovely photos of similar examples so I can present my case to MrB but haven't had any luck :(
The garden bed I would match to the width of the brick pillar (which I think is around 60cm).

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Rectangular, round or square pull handles?

I have been unable to find slightly rounded pull handles that both Anette and KL suggested :(

I've only found rectangle, square or round ones. If anyone comes across the slightly rounded ones please let me know :)

So, if we have to choose between rectangle, round or square, which one should we go for?

 Rectangle - 40mm x 20mm

Round - 32mm



Square - 30mm x 30mm




Our internal door handles



Our traditional facade

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What type and size of handle to go for?

Our escutcheon (the key thinggo) will be 1m off the ground. We've got an option of either installing the handle above the escutcheon or offset it to the sides. If we go with offset handles we can go with longer ones. Which size and type of handles would you recommend?


600mm handles above the escutcheon.




1.2m offset handles


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Offset pull handles or not?

Our escutcheon and mortice locks have been installed at 1m from the ground. Leaving us with only 1.4m above to work with.
We think having a long handle and pushing it all the way to the top (ie, not centering) would look weird, so we are thinking a 600mm would be the most appropriate.

Another option is for us to go with an offset type pull handle. This would mean that we could center it and go with a longer one, but it will go over the grooved rectangles on the door. An example of an offset type pull handle:

What do you think? Should we go for a shorter (600mm) normal pull handle or a longer offset type one?

Our doors (will be painted black):

Our facade:
 

 
Good luck with your surgery KL. Hope it all goes smoothly X
 
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