I completely love the twirly bits, and the window trim. It's unique, special and shows the family within has a sort of fun spirit. If you would be more comfortable with a cottage that looks more "regular", then take it off. But please don't! For some color and inspiration, google French provencal fabric images. I can completely see a little black metal bistro table and wood slat back chairs on your porch with a cloth of one of those fabrics. I would paint it a light dusky blue, with white trim and mid-charcoal accents around the windows and the corner pieces on the front porch. Although the yellow with the blue would be quite right too! The front walk looks to be in good condition. You can do a stone overlay on that, letting a small portion of the stones hang over the straight edge, to give it a little more rustic look. It looks like you have a good collection of Queen of the Nile lilies (guessing here). Were they blue on blooming? You can create some slightly larger and curving beds in the front, and transplant some within it. I would add lavender and rosemary in a mix with those. For some grey and texture, put some lambs ears (a perennial) along the outside edge. Check your local growing zone to see what will thrive in your area! Lucky you. What a find!

Thanks for the feedback tsudhonimh. Regarding the two tan walls. They are actually sandstone block walls that I built myself and when they and the rock is clean they are actually very similar in colour. See attached picture to give you a bit of an idea of a quick clean of the sandstone. Having said that the top wall is not structural and could be removed if it didn't fit the bigger picture I come up with, however the reason it was built was to keep the dirt from falling down the rock every time it rained and also to make it look somewhat more tidy. It is also somewhat of a railing as there is a dirt walkway and then some steps to get to the top rock. I have toyed with the idea of getting rid of all the dirt, surprisingly there is a fair bit of it and due to the weather in Sydney, most plants as well as weeds grow really quickly. I currently find myself about once a month removing weeds, which grow to about two feet a month in height specially in the spring/summer times. I do agree there are a number of somewhat flat areas, and I have been toying with the idea of multi-level terracing with a nice entertainment area. From the top rock I have a view of the city and the nice Australian weather means that we do spend a lot of time outdoors. I was hoping not to just do a boring timber balcony and the recommendation of John Lautner by makeArchitecture in the comment above has helped come up with some interesting alternatives. We have been looking at native plant options, we have quiet a few options for the area we are in and a lot of them such as the aloe vera and the other spicky plants you can currently see grow with no maintenance required except for some occasional trimming. Thanks for the suggestion to describe the garden as "rock garden" or "alpine garden" as that yielded some interesting results when goggling. I have also attached a photo of the house from the backyard to give you an idea of what the existing building looks like. We are currently planning on painting it white, as we have gotten some good ideas for similar barn style house on the Houzz site. This has definitely been beneficial feedback as sometimes it feels a bit overwhelming as it it not the standard backyard. I really wanted to have some ideas of direction before getting a professional to come in and design what the end product should look like as a whole. After I have that I can determine what I do myself and what I get a professional to do.

The charring of wood as a method of preservation is nothing new and was known to European and Mediterranean builders as well as Asians. I have for years charred the bases of deck posts and such as a rot preventative. The practice is mentioned in John Fitchen's classic book Building Construction Before Mechanization. Some of the samples of this shown above are a bit crude. The most beautiful finishes of this type are rather labor intensive as some of the char can be brushed back off to some extent to reveal wood grain. The planter shown below has been coated on the interior with linseed oil, blackjack and turpentine and then set alight with a roofer's torch. The finish is cooked into the wood producing a carbonized insect and decay resistant surface. It gets filled with soil and so the char will be seen only at the edges.

Don't waste your money rendering the bricks - that look will go out of fashion. Don't replace your tiles with a colourbond roof either as that would be giving you an inferior roof and colourbond roofs are noisy. Replace your front door and try and choose wrought iron bannister railing. Then start off fresh with your front garden; soften it with magnolia shrubs, white agapanthus and trailing plants such as erigon to trail over brickwork in the driveway. Your bricks show a lot of character; please don't render them.