Ignore the trampoline- that won’t stay 😆

Unable to see garages…

Why do you need to change access with front door, are you changing internal walls? Where is current front door?

Feature arched front door

Possible pitched front veranda over door and flat pergola in front of large arch window.

Front door is inside the carport at the moment. There is no hallway, just opens into large living space at the front. Carport entrance is another arch but covered in ivy. Entrance is so tight we don’t even drive our car in at the moment.

We want to remove both of these arches and make a wider carport.

Okay, now have context. I would research your set back allowance for the front yard. Add a double carport in the front of the current carport. Looking at your photos, the roof pitch drops quite low, and also the front brick pillars of carport look as though they maybe bearing the load of the roof, of your home. If you are moving the front door, then it doesn’t matter if pitched carport is slightly across front of home. I would build the carport with solid brick pillars and render the same as the house.

You have a classic 80's house I would work with what you have, what climate are you in.

Do you have a floorplan

Example as per my previous post. Even keep the bricks , not render, and add charcoal accents with front door and pergola and new carport.

Thanks for your ideas. I’ll definitely research what our set back allowance is.

I would like to see the garage with a Flyover or angled roof to work with the other roof lines

I like your ideas of the feature front door and pergola. I wouldn't render, embrace the brick! Once you lighten up the front with the pergola, garden and carport it will be much brighter. Good luck, have fun :)

the landscaping is letting the house down. Get a landscape architect in to advise. They should be able to help work out the facade and garden treatment. Posting a floor plan and site plan here will help get some more comments too.

Yes we will definitely be redoing the landscaping and am considering getting some professional advice for this.

Just curious are people saying don’t render the brick because you don’t think it’ll suit or because it’s expensive to render? We have renderers in our family so it won’t cost us as much as usual and I was thinking of channeling that Spanish vibe with the arch windows. But maybe I’m completely wrong?!?

Floor plan, view from front and driveway slope

My answer to your question regarding render. Neither to won’t suit or too expensive. My answer would be…There is nothing wrong with the bricks, why cover them?

Hmm I find them very dark and ugly.

Classic 80's work with the period and don't it into a cookie cutter house, google 80's houses for ideas, Pinterest has lots of examples. From the door you have shown you were looking at Spanish Revival style

Sorry I missed your last post, and as I said you were channeling Spanish, Mid Centuary is very popular, no to the render just because you can but then it's your house.

I say this because I have an Architect designed 80's house that we love

The bricks and the windows (and the ivy) are the best thing about the house. Rendering needs to be considered carefully otherwise it will look like you’ve put on badly colour matched foundation over yesterday’s make up. The pitched veranda in your inspo pic won’t work with the current roofline. I do like the idea of the Spanish look with the arch so a white render could work but you need to consider that in the scheme of the whole exterior. Do a wish list, and start pricing the items. You may find that landscaping which should be a high priority may consume a lot of your time and money, and rendering will drop down the list. You could also consider straight paint and Three Birds Renovations have a good range of inspiration projects.

You really need 5.5 m width to park 2 cars side by side and get in and out of car comfortably
By all means render if you prefer it to brick. It’s a personal choice and adds maintenance costs as you would be aware.
Your lounge is wide enough to change entry to front. You could inset the door to create porch under roof line. That timber door is stunning

What climate are you in, this might dictate what works best for your Unique house which appears to have a great floorplan. I think once you clean up the over grown planting everything will be revealed

Adelaide hills so cold & wet but lush with lots of native bushland close by.

Beautiful part of Australia, look at "midcentuaryhome.com"

Thank you siriuskey!

If you really don’t like the bricks, then I suggest to paint the bricks, not render. It keeps the texture and interest of the bricks, but changes to your preferred colour.

I’m not a big fan of painted bricks. I feel like every second house has been painted white. My dream home would have rammed earth walls hence my desire for the earthy tones. We also have this in our backyard!! So thought the earthy tones could possibly attempt to tie the buildings together.
I really appreciate your thoughts though @dreamer. It has made me consider not doing anything to the brick and just concentrating on landscaping to improve the look of the house.

Def not Spanish mission. It is uni

Hahaha I know that. But it is rendered terracotta 😉

Another option is to have the bricks covered by the application called, bagged brick. This is a rough finish showing the texture of the brick. Render is a smooth finish, bagged brick is more natural and textured. We have a garage wall done this way. I will take a photo tomorrow in the sunlight. You could do it in your earthy colour. https://hursthomes.com.au/news/a-guide-to-bagging-brick-walls#:~:text=What Is Bagged Brick?,as is or painted over.

Do you have Hobbits living in your back garden

Because you live in the land of Vineyards and wild Olive trees I think your original idea of a rustic rammed earth would look great. Plus those large metal gates need to be worked into the theme, they are perfect.

This is a photo of neighbours garage that backs onto our back yard. This was covered in bagged brick. I have also attached a photo of our previous home, which was built in 2004. We had the rounded Spanish terracotta tiles on the roof, and the entire home was bagged brick. The colour can be what ever you like. I can see your vision, with bagged brick, and a native Australian garden.

We are in the process of bagging our house, it’s finished with a lime wash but as mentioned it can be done in any colour. It’s more of a rustic finish

Yes I’m really starting to think bagged brick will be the way to go for us. Thanks so much for all the input. Now to convince my partner!

You can get some pretty thick textured paints that will give a similar look to bagged brick. Dulux have a range.

also check Rockcote for painting rough surfaces