Hi Emma, I have been giving the front of your houzz some thought. This is such a wonderful website. I have gone through & found some pics I like, just to give you some idea's for thought.Above I like these posts. for your carport, they seem to add a bit of style not boring ! If you would still like to still screen of your front door/entrance from the street perhaps don't take the solid wall all the way to the ceiling. You could add timber slats or some of that laser cut steel screening (endless choices of patterns) that is very popular these days, just adding it to the top section as a feature.I love this front door and the path looks stylish to take your eye away from the flat, boring roof. Maybe change your large window to a framed window that will compliment the front door. Have you thought about replacing the dark roller doors? Below is our 1980's houzz, the garage is around the back of the house, it had 3 Black tilt garage doors that looked horrible outside as well as in (so much frame work on the ceiling). We sold them as is and where, they paid me to take them away ! We then just went for 2 plain white roller, it made a huge difference. We have a huge amount of concrete out back and intend to spray tile the back porch area. I have tried to add some greenery with pots and little garden and water feature. To the right corner of the pic is a concrete ramp to give access to the shed necessary for the Boat & Harley, My husbands midlife crisis. Our block has a 30metre frontage that narrows to the back like a big wedge, we are just trying to make the most of what's not ideal ! I like this idea around the front door as well I'm unsure wether it is tile or brick And this looks good too, the roof over the door comes from nowhere. The path & the potted plant are great features, the plant giving a bit of privacy to the window.

Thanks Anne and I will look at pale grey given the maintenance considerations. I have already paid for a colour consultant who was great but the Reckless grey she suggested for the house render and basalt gutters/fascia and front wall were too grey when we had the render samples put on and while it had a modern look, it was not giving the beach/coastal feel. I will head back into our inspirations paint store this morning to see if I can find the warm grey colours that have the most similar colour make up to Dune, and go from there. Anne you don't happen to know the dulux colour most close in composition to Colorbond Dune so I know where to start? Thanks again and I would love to hear from anyone who has got a dune roof and hear if they tried light coloured gutters and what render colours they have used on their walls.

Australia has nice examples of painted and rendered Art Deco homes. If it was a different kind of brick I would say keep it, but I think painting/rendering would really brighten the place. I love the windows. Although all pics here don't exactly match your style, they are all of that era. As mentioned in above comments, there are mix of landscaping styles that suit from conifer/gravel/grass to cottage rose garden to an Australian native garden. Do what reflects you and how much time you have for your garden.

Hi iggs85 as it is an older kitchen I would not spend a huge amount of money on a revamp. It is definitely possible to paint laminate but good preparation is vital to ensure the paint 'sticks'. However a quality painter is going to charge you about the same as your resurfacing quote. Using either a painter or a resurfacing company does let you choose any colour though. The biggest disadvantage of the current benchtop is the bullnose which is very dated. From your photo, the colour and pattern look OK but you could get a stone 'overlay' put on it. They square off the bullnose so it looks more contemporary. An acrylic feature panel on the return is another alternative to vinyl planks. It looks like glass, comes in a good range of colours and is relatively inexpensive compared to glass. See http://zenolite.com/range as an example. You can buy acrylic sheets from Bunnings. You could also use pressed metal panels as a feature eg. http://www.wunderlite.com.au/catalogue/details/1/79/pressed-metal-crystal?start=25 Add some new handles on doors and drawers too.