Render always looks good with a tiled roof.
Are you going to do any changes to the entry. Extend it into a small deck?
The front looks very flat so yo may need to look at colours that would give some dimension to the house.

Thanks Loretta! We were thinking of replacing the roof with colourbond, and covering over the current tiled porch with decking. Would contrasting colours add dimension? Greys, blacks and whites? Or something more subtle?

Where do you live? Climate can have an impact on colours, lighter colours are better in the tropics, etc, also what styles are the houses around you?
Shades of light and dark grey always look great in either render or boarding. The important issue is to find your style!

Go for a light colorbond colour such as Surfmist to reflect the heat. Suggest rendering for looks and value adding.

Thanks for the comments! We live in coastal NSW, Australia, so we are in the middle of a rather hot summer. I love that surf mist shade, could be a good starting point!

In our area it's a mixture of modern new-builds, old fibro beach shacks and brick and tiles like ours. Nothing of character or aesthetic value unfortunately! So I think modern is the only way to go.

A blue/grey goes beautifully with Surfmist. We have done this before. Taupe also is lovely with black trims. The idea of a deck sounds great.

Do a Google search on the "Surfmist Colourbond". it shows some great options of using different shades of grey,

like this..
http://www.apexsteel.com.au/images/surfmist.jpg

Vinyl cladding is definitely out and outdated, anything else is better and cheaper

In the type of areas you describe - coastal, with a mismatch of styles - I really don't think that render would be better, value wise, than vinyl cladding. It would have been the case if your house had been a contemporary one among other very contemporary homes...

It also depends on the overall style you want for your house. If your goal is to create a relaxed, modern beach house vibe (which seems to be in line with the location), vinyl cladding could definitely work! Pair it with Colourbond roof (yes, Surfmist is a great colour), some decking (at the front and maybe at the back) and some easy-to-maintain native plants (or some more tropical ones, with big, green foliage, but you want to make sure that they are not hard-work to keep alive). If you do a larger decking at the front, you could also add a little veranda so you are under cover when at the front door. This would also give another dimension to your house.

With Surfmist on the roof, I would go for a light to medium grey on the walls and white windows, doors, veranda poles, etc. This combo would be soft on the eyes and harmonious, is timeless and would give your home a modern beach shack feel.

I hope this helps :) Good luck with your renos!

PS: Do not forget lighting and an attractive/funky letterbox!

For a contemporary look and perhaps cheaper also consider cladding over with colorbond. If funds allow redo the front windows in Surfmist. I would not buy a vinyl clad home I am afraid in regard to resale.

This looks great and bag and paint a realistic option. Your house is one window wider and symmetrical. Did you increase the width or did you always have 4 windows across the front?

Cbd75, what a gorgeous house! I love it! Is it also in australia? I think I spot gum trees in the background?

I actually had a project builder build a symmetrical square box for me (so always had 4 windows across the front). I then removed the 600mm eaves and added the verandahs (always had this intention). The verandahs and gable cost me $5,000 and did the work myself. Ambularstar1985, this would be a possibility for yours, but maybe not with verandahs as you may not get the height when you pull your eaves back (ie just do the gable and colorbond roof).
The house is on the Gold Coast in Qld, out the back of Mudgeeraba. I built it in 2002.
PS gable detail is all in foam apart from the corner pieces which I bought from Bunnings.

You are clever indeed.

Do not touch vinyl cladding with a barge pole- it will give the impression that there is fibro underneath, doing nothing to add value to your home. My builder says that vinyl cladding looks great the day it goes up, then it looks s###house. I tend to agree, having seen strips of the stuff rip off our house in a storm. Bagging or painting the brick would be the most cost effective option. The money you save could be spent on a little gabled entry if you decide to do the roof. I don't think you have adequate roof height for an add on veranda. Then change the windows and go for a timber screen door in a light colour.

My suggestion would be to bring the decking out to double the depth. Don't use Merbau as this is imported and unsustainable - use locally sourced timber.
I would only ever choose a grey roof - this is a classic colour and especially with the colour of your bricks - the 2 colours work really well together. This will improve resale value.
Lastly i would strongly recommend that you lengthen all of the front windows so that they are the full length of the window frame and then any paint applied should be charcoal grey.

Colorbond Dune is a light grey natural looking roof if you like this direction.

I am not sure why you would want to change the roof unless there are problems with it, for the cost I would consider spraying it a lighter colour.
I also agree with the comments about cladding great if the home is fibro and needs improving, but it gives the impression that it is covering something shoddy !

Spraying invariably fades unfortunately.

I suggest you get the advice of a real estate agent. In our area, vinyl clad = harder to sell. There is always the lurking question of "what is the cladding hiding?" implying nasty cracks or rising damp.

You also need to check what effect vinyl cladding has on the longevity of the grout in the brickwork.

Exciting times renovating! Re walls ..... If you check thro internet you will find an insulating block system you can add externally and then render. This will give you some additional insulation. I assume house is brick veneer and built with no wall insulation as mine is!

Regarding roof....you would need to insure your roof has adequate tiedowns if you remove tiles and replace with a lighter roof. Check wind category with local council. A local structural engineer would be able to advise. This is esp important in a coastal area. All the very best.

I agree Loretta Illy, we have thought about spraying the roof too. Thanks for the suggestion of a grey roof Timandra Design, ideally we would keep the bricks as they are and just work out a colour scheme to improve the overall appearance - I think adding the deck as you suggested will add value too. Clutteredval, you are right, brick veneer with no insulation! I've lived in the UK and NZ previously, and the reality of living with no insulation is new to me!

Yes very chilly or HOT houses. Look up some sustainable building house sites as lots of ideas. Most say start with all the gaps. Apparently 10 to 20% heat loss. Windows for us were next. We have 4mm old glass (typical 60s, 70s) and it is hopeless. Good thick curtains and later roof insulation have helped a lot. My BIL has installed double glazed windows and says it has worked well. I have looked into wall insulation but am not convinced pumped in version does not affect the ability to waterproofing adequately. The cavity is there for a reason! Companies say not an issue but no guarantee. Neighbour removed all internal plasterboard, installed insulation and replaced plasterboard. It is very cosy. It is a dilemma. I am also looking at underfloor insulation too. We have polished timber floors so may even look at carpets in our bedrooms as cheaper then underfloor insulation!

Agree with you on keeping brickwork ... No maintenance. Best of luck.

I'm interested to hear if anyone else has had success with retro-fitting insulation on a similar house, and where to start.... As we are planning on doing renovations we haven't touched the current (non-existant) insulation, but we're planning on starting with adding ceiling insulation and stopping up gaps....

This is interesting. Maybe my concerns re cavity are unfounded but this raises another few issues. Thought you may like to read.
http://www.ata.org.au/wp-content/uploads/renew_98_99_wall_insulation_retrofit.pdf

These guys are in Melbourne but may be worth a ring. Heard good things about them.
http://www.ecomaster.com.au/what-is-wall-insulation/

An interesting read! It's just so annoying that our homes aren't insulated properly in the first place , not even new builds: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/inaction-means-home-is-where-the-draught-is-poor-energy-performance-in-our-homes-20141219-12adrk.html
I got a quote for pumped in wall insulation of $3500, but we will definitely do our ceiling and gaps first.

@ambulastar1985 - The lack of insulation in Australian homes is indeed appalling. Coming from a European background where insulation standards are very strict (although they differ from one country to another), I fail to understand why Australia is so behind on that matter. We may not have much cold weather compared to Europe but our summers can be extremely hot and it's silly to rely solely on air-con to regulate temperature. So much energy (and money!) could be saved by just planning the house and insulating it properly to start with, without affecting much the initial cost or construction time frame. In France - which is definitely not a leader in environmental matters! - these days, when selling a house, you have to get an expert to estimate how energy efficient your home is and to indicate the energy rating on the ad and sale documents. Houses that are not energy efficient sell for less and can also be taxed at higher rates by councils. It's been a great incentive to get people to think twice when building and/or renovating.

Bag it! I love the bagged look.

Why replace roof looks in good condition just respray it with a lighter colour

A really awful chocolate brickaneer with ugly white windows in our area was recently done up as a holiday rental to great effect: They had a similar narrow tiled deck area (roofless veranda) that was covered over with a larger timber deck, the windows enlarged and one changed to French doors, and a fabulous heavy timber pergola across the deck and the front of the attached garage. The tiled roof was painted (not something I would have done), and climbers have been planted to grow up the pergola. You wouldn't recognize the house - it looks fantastic, but with one exception. I will never like white windows with chocolate bricks.

This is my old childhood home - the top photo is how it looked three years ago - I stumbled across it for sale last year on Realestate.com.au - talk about the difference a tidy up, render and paint can do!! They have done some reno's too but the major aesthetic difference just from the render - wow!!