Hi dinkidi4, I'm dealing with the same thing right now. I did paint some of the walls white, which have been good for the time I've been here before doing the 'real' job, however, I don't want this really textured look from the bricks as there are too many walls. I'm about to try Dulux Acra tex on a wall to see if it gives a smoother bagged finish. So still showing the brick lines but not so rough. I'll show photos of the original bricks. Dark, very textured with lots of holes and missing bits of brick as well as deep grout grooves. Such a hard decision - cost and I don't want to make it a flat boring plasterboard house. I have extremely high cathedral ceilings so not a cheap job to plaster either. Excuse the white box - I was playing with it to look at removing arches. Any thing else you've found out since would be a great help

Thanks everyone for your further comments. No problem about it being an old post, always nice to communicate with people about design solutions/problems. Jilly, I posted some photos on 1st January 2016, they appear further up in the post. Garden Beet Pty Ltd, and Morel Construction Ltd, both of your solutions look great, but our problem still remains the western Queensland sun which is pretty vicious on anything that will either wilt, fade or break down. It was quite a difficult challenge to come up with something that was affordable, workable and durable. I would love to have had plants because I believe they soften large "hard" exterior areas, but we have decided that we will do that with pots around the pool area. Still have that to do, even after all this time. :) Thanks everyone for re-igniting this chat. Jilly, hope you find something that works for you.

If the brick is a functioning chimney I would leave it other wise a rough render could work. One of the issues is that the nearby features such as the light and painting clash. As in the dining room, try a large mirror and a big photo e.g. to link it all. Also good rugs with strong reds, browns, oranges would help co-ordinate the rooms at low expense. I would try a colourful Moroccon style rug near the brick feature before attempting a major fix.

I was 23 years old and our first home (1982) was $42,000 but interest rates were 21%!!! It was in Otorohanga NZ and mortgages were tough to get. Best decision ever though. We had second hand everything, even using an old beer crate as coffee tables and book shelves lol. Over the years we have owned only 3 homes though, and if we were to start again we have learned to not over capitalise on homes we have bought instead upgrade sooner. Finally we are ebarking on our first new home build ... bettter late than never though definately!