I agree that charcoal would be nice - softer than black Just check that it has a greenish base, as that will work with Woodland grey Use a coppery colour for the front door and follow the theme by using rusted metal pots and mail box, as julie herbert suggested Pebblecrete for the pathways will complete the theme of natural materials, then give the garden some personality by contouring beds and mulching with pebbles and stones in the grey, brown and black colours of the building Perhaps a winding path to the front door Use Woodland grey for the new garage door If you really want to change the roof tiles, make them a greenish grey too With medium sized shrubs - magnolia, camellia, mock orange as well as soft grasses, the garden will finish the project nicely You don't have to do it all at once - it's nice to let the process evolve as you develop confidence Have fun and let us know what you decide

so relieved you don't want to spoil a great looking brick home with more render but is there a view from upstairs? when funds allow extending the deck/verandah across the front of the garage would add extra upstairs outdoor space and modify the look of the garage doors and consider painting garage doors and rendered wall in the darkest cement colour (greenish) grey with white eaves and fascias with black gutters and simply pressure wash the driveway to retain the natural concrete colour and add climbing plants to fall down the side of the retaining wall

I'd look at it slightly diferently . Lets start with what it looks like you already have -- some of these I may be wrong on , but it looks like -- -- the side and presumably rear section are already fenced ? -- the section seems to slope quite a bit to that left hand side . -- there seems to be a reasonable garden and trees on that left hand side . -- the house itself seems to lack a Wow factor . So my thoughts would be why not do a trampoline or slide or whatever in the existing fenced off area -- if you have a pool , I assume that is already seperately fenced ? The suggested fences looks too much like the house IMO . The kids may be hard to see / supervise / look out for falls and hazards on that left side . So how about a lower brick fence , maybe 300-400mm tall , with stained wooden rails -- 2 or 3 , even 4 , 100 x 100 or similar , maybe on black powdercoated aluminium uprights / posts ( I think 'your' brick , done as posts , would look too heavy ) . But encourage the children to use the side/rear , although the front is also fenced , so sort of an each way bet ? The letterbox looks boring , so obviously the first thought is to change it -- but imagine it in a bright orange or yellow , with the chairs on the upstairs terrace painted or changed to ones of the same colour , maybe a 35 cm pot in the same colour upstairs and 2 around 50 or even 80cm downstairs ? Then add your street number in big brass 'modern' numbers on the front door -- I think its double doors , but they are that nondescript its hard to tell -- if they are , maybe do the nunbers on whichever side opens first , so they look 'offset' and add a bit of interest , as well as showing where the door is ? I'm not a fan of the garage door or entrance door colour , or the guttering , but add the bright pots ( with suitable plants ) , chairs and letterbox , and it won't look as plain IMO . Make sense ?

Great suggestions by dreamer, I think a dark colour for all your trims would look great, even the eaves, we painted our eaves same colour as our trims and I absolutely love it, it gives a really edgy stand out look, try with colour swatches to give you an idea, along with your fence to highlight the entrance it will look fabulous. So many colours to choose from, sample pots are worth it to get your desired look.