I really like this building, and I love the railing... I would not change the railing. Is the railing the same thing as balustrade? (sorry I am not familiar with that term.... if it is, I think that I agree that I would do my best to maintain the character of it when I am trying to meet building code requirements). I think that it is reflective of the period that this house was built. I think that some nice landscaping of the property would add to its street appeal. I would love some hedging, and perhaps some flowers. I would remove the white railings that are next to the parking area (I am not speaking about the staircase railing, which I like.) The railings that are next to parking area, and entry into parking area are not very appealing... some hedges here would definitely add to the appeal. I would also remove all of the straggly looking plants and opt for something slightly more formal. The parking garage next to the building is unattractive. I think that this is much less appealing than the apartment building itself. The area definitely needs to be paved and I would explore the costs of improving this area. I think that while people like car spaces, this whole area detracts from the apartment complex which is actually quite nice. Also, is the paved area that is outside the stairs for visitor parking? I think that could be improved as well. If you do not need visitor parking, I would put a grass area here, and possibly a gate or formal hedging at the boundary of the property. I might even add something for tenants to use. Perhaps a bench or picnic table. I am not certain what the horizontal bar is that is between the windows on the upper floor. Can you have something more decorative there? (perhaps the street name 32 Hill Street (or whatever the street number is) ... written out in a decorative font that is in keeping with the time period of the building. I have seen this on some buildings in Sydney, and it actually looks nice. I think that I might change the red color on the end of the stairs. Is the seemingly paved area outside of the stairs a parking area? In one of the pictures I see a set of blue curtains in the upper window. I would replace this with something like a roman blind, so that all window treatments are the same. (I think that it has more appeal from the outside.) Good Luck!

Thank-you all so much for your advice so far, i've already gained so many ideas simply from reading your suggestions. oskuee: The house is a single story, and we have spoken about solar tubes before but weren't too sure how to incorporate lighting fixtures within the hallway as well. How did you go about it? Did you just install the 2 solar tubes with/without lighting fixtures? scottevie: the windows in the lounge will be remaining the same, we will eventually change the colour of the curtains but not straight away, either way the styling and shape will remain the same. Surprisingly there isn't a whole lot of natural light than can enter from that point of the house. There is a very large verandah at the front of the house which this window backs on to, plus the amount of trees from the front of our property and next door's front yard makes it difficult for natural light to seap through. I just had a quick look at some Dulux White Duck examples, i definitely favour something around this colour tone. telperien: i really like the ideas of mirror(s), this would be a great idea to distribute that natural light. I think we are going to try our best to steer clear of knocking down any walls for now unless we really need to! Embrace interiors: Thank-you so much for the recommendations in paint colour and for re-assuring us that we can paint below the dado rail in a darker colour. We've had a closer look and Stone Lion is definitely the tone we are trying to achieve. If we were to paint the bottom half in Stone Lion, what would you recommend the colour of the picture frames for the artwork be on the top half? We definitely would consider painting the top half in a warmer white as you have recommended. Once again, thank-you all for your suggestions and recommendations!!

From your latest photos it looks really great, glass would look awesome also , it really depends on the look you are after, glass would look really modern but that iron work looks really great, decisions , decisions.

May I suggest that you could quite quickly and affordably: 1 - paint the roller door and the white beam above it in Terrain - https://colorbond.com/colour/terrain - which will stop them drawing your eye. You may still want to put in a wooden roller door but you will get the effect quickly. 2 - replace the eyesore round light fitting at the same time with a modern one 3- left hand side - the next door dirty cream fence is also eye catching either put a fence and gate there to block it from view or just paint it a dark colour so it recedes and separates from the house. 4 - yes the roof either needs a good clean or a repaint 5 - yes the down pipe - can it be replaced by a chain style into the garden bed? Paint it dark anyway to stop it popping. It may be possible to drain it to the side gutters Love the railings - 5- the house isn’t sitting in its own space visually planting darker evergreens to left and right will help to settle it.