Match brick colour

Your bricks are a lovely warm colour so I would keep to similar for the roof. Colourbond colours may not be accurate on my screen, but I only see one colour that would blend with your bricks and that is Terrain. All the other colours look too grey. I would then take one of the lighter shades from the brick and paint the garage door and other timber features. I have seen many homes where the brown finish has been repainted deep creams or other similar soft shades and it has really given the home a whole new cleaner look. In your case, I would look at an earthy apricot shade.

Take some closer photos of the house, even some where you can include parts of the roof, and put them onto one of the paint company's websites where you can test colours from their range to give you an idea of the finished result.

Stay with your bricks, rendering is so fast becoming a trend that will actually date your home in the long term, so unless there are any problems with the bricks I really don't see the point in rendering. You will need to do all your brick fence and retaining walls which will add to the expense.

Focus on improving your lawns and gardens creating a lush and cared for front landscape, and your home will look great.

Hello from the states here. I agree with olldroo that the brickwork is very pretty on your home and yard.
We had the same problem when reroofing our brick house even though we didn't use colourbond here. We ended up going dark bluish grey roof and gutters/downspouts to match that same darker smoke color brick on your house. To lighten it up a little we then used a lighter greyish blue for the facias, siding sections, etc. Our only regret was that we installed windows with white casing instead of the dark grey. Not too bad, but now the white jumps out against the darker colors a bit much instead of blending. (like bright white eyeliner)
Looks like from the website that colourbond does have a dark blue based grey available.
You have such a pretty homestead to work with already....Good luck!

From their website, looks like the name of the colourbond I was talking about is called "ironstone."

I would just render or limestone clad small panel wall to right of door and maybe paint the iron handrail or replace with timber you could also lighten up dark garage door as of the front elevation your not going to get a good view of the roof any way good luck

Rendering will compliment the colorbond roof if you want to modernise your home. I think the bricks are really outdated

The bricks need to go....depressing really. Consider painting whole house tho rendering would be good and maybe cheaper. I would go for either a dark colour like "terrible billy' Dulux I think ( amazing dark grey brown or a warm white...then lots and lots of green ......if you paint it all dark, change the wire door. The separate elements of the house front don't work any more as a statement....making it all the same will pull the whole house into a new era, with hints of mountains, scandinavian simplicity etc. Very stylish.
It all depends on budget of course.

I would not render the bricks if I were you. I agree with olldroo that rendering is very trendy right now and will date your home in the future. The bricks are actually very nice ones and maybe if they were a cheaper style I would agree that rendering is the way to go. I think your house can be modernised very easily by changing the dark brown trim and fascias etc to something more contemporary.

I also agree that softening up and adding to your garden will complement your house.

May I suggest you paint the timber work around your windows and door a mid to deeper blue based grey picking up the grey in your bricks. Render the brickwork along the driveway up to the stairs a lighter shade of this as a contrast. You could also render half the house front along with the driveway fence leaving the brick over the garage half as a feature. The garage door should also match the timber work. Find a colourbond colour you like then use it to match up paint. Revamp the garden bed next to the drive, this will instantly lift the whole house. Think about new window treatments, the white roller blind looks too stark against the brick, perhaps replace it with either wide slat venetians or rollers that are slightly tinged with grey. Use painting apps that are free to get the look before you do anything too drastic.

I have a similar pitch to my roof as yours. My house was already rendered at the time of purchase. It was painted in a darker latte colour and always appeared and felt filthy (had been painted 2 years prior), so I painted it a slightly off white. The roof was already done in a cream colour-bond which I hated. The roof was only 2.5 years old and with an estimated cost of $45k to replace, I wasn't going to touch it. The colour changed helped me like the roof and gutters a tiny bit more. If the house had its time over, I would have stuck to tiles. The lighter paint colour in my opinion heightens the front of the home and when standing on the front driveway assists the home to give the appearance of power/grandness. From a re-sale prospective (when the time comes) I believe there will be a very small percentage of people who will appreciate your brick colour. The first thing a buyer is going to do is try to knock $10-$20k off because they "will have to render it". I have attached a couple pics of the front of my home. Hope it gives you an idea of what your home may look like rendered. I am just finishing off the home now, I'm going to lighten the wood garage door and put matching cedar under the roof line, tint the driveway a see through bronze and have the centre brickwork of the drive changed into no-mow grass to soften the area. :)

Comments by Carole and Buffpoint are spot on, with the exception that I wouldn't break up the front facade (Buffpoint suggestion) and render half because your half will look half the size and itsy bitsy.
Most young Aussies will prefer a rendered house, so if you were selling, I'd advise you to render at least the front facade and the brick driveway wall. But if it's just for yourselves and you like the brick and the low maintenance, I'd start by changing the elements that look really dated - the front door and screen, get rid of any mission brown and change to a deep grey (Dulux Malay is nice) and the front door can be gloss. The hand rail looks dated as does the concrete pathway. Have you considered dark grey slate tiling or travertine or sandstone paving for the entryway? I like all the treatments in Carole's photos above. I can't see the garage door colour, but if it's mission brown, consider swapping that too. White plantation shutters would also give the place a facelift. You could do all that, at not a huge cost, then see if you still think the bricks should be rendered. If so, go for a complete change - something like Dulux White Duck to contrast the Malay Grey. The Colorbond roof will fall into place around it all. White shutters inside and light barge boards; lots of planting in that front garden bed and your home will have great curb appeal. I just think that once you start rendering, it will be like a domino effect and everything will look dated against it. Maybe a paint facelift of the timbers and other areas will save you rendering. PS 70's is sooo fashionable right now.

I would start with the little stuff like changing your security door to a different colour. You can get a door powder coated to a Dulux colour of your choice. A bit more expensive but worth it . They have beautiful designs now. Change your railings as well looks out dated there. The bricks are great leave them less maintenance in the long run. Need to change colour of timber work. Can't see very well if your windows are aluminium/steel or timber but painting it would brighten up the house.

I have Ironstone (Dulux) as my colour for my external posts for my decking and front door and it's a beautiful colour :)

The comments here are divided but I would strongly agree with those who say that rendering will quickly date your home MORE than these bricks do. Bricks are coming back in fashion and just by painting the woodwork (weatherboards and trim) a modern grey you will bring your home back to life. Do you need to replace the roof because the tiles can't be seen and it is an expensive exercise. Some friends of mine have a house very similar to yours and they've done exactly what I've said here. Houses with split roofs, timber detailing and bricks are having a resurgence because of the popularity of mid century modern and architects like Michael Dysart. Good luck

Hi there we have a brick 70s house that is not as architectural but same very warm bricks! We thought about rendering or bagging and decided it was probably not going to improve the look of the place in the way we wanted. Instead we have made a lush front garden and planted 2 mop top robinias, created a planter box under a large window and installed growing frames along the facade for creepers to grow. We have painted out our window frames, guttering, fascia and front gates that span a car port in black and behind the large window used white shutters (it faces north). We have also installed an external woven awning blind over the window in a charcoal and that has given the facade a bit of visual interest too. Behind the car port gates we are about to install a white pull down awning, which will sit flat behind them and help to balance the look of the adjacent window. We will do some brick painting next to our front door - Dulux Tranquil Retreat and we have painted our brick fence in black paint - just rolled it on so mortar joints are still revealed. The use of black and white has really calmed down the brick warmth and has wrestled it into submission in ways that have improved the look both outside and inside in the case of the shutters, and sun control with the awning and shutters and shade trees and the garden obviously improves the property in a cost effective way. It has meant that we now don't have to worry about render maintenance too and the place looks much softer and prettier.

PS I prefer black to greys as in our case the black is not picking up colours in the bricks., which has definitely helped to neutralise them. I have included a photo from back in Jan of part of the facade for you to see, with kids included for free!

I love the colours of the bricks. I would suggest a dune or ironstone roof. Then paint the window frames and steps to match. And new front door would finish it off.

Thanks so much everyone for your feedback, I love Houzz! Getting advice from all different aspects is very helpful. Looks like its pretty much cut down the middle with keep bricks or render. I have swayed between the two and for all the reasons that have been mentioned. I feel that the bricks at the moment date the house but to render will do the same, just like a few of you have mentioned. There are plenty of homes around with bricks like ours and I'd love to drag it into the present with smart choice of colour and finishes. Ive checked out the colours that you suggested home101 and love them. We are putting on an extension to the back of the house so the bottom left photo that you showed carole really inspires how weatherboard and brick can tie in nicely which is what we are keen to do with the extension. There's been a few questions about the garage door, I edited the photo to hide our cars and the mess in our garage :) , the door is actually cream, same as the wire door, we'd look to change both of these. The garden has already changed to when this photo was taken, we are planting White Crepe Myrtles where to large green shrub is and have plans/dreams of having large timber platforms that lead from the front path to the front door. Love the colours that you mentioned and thanks for the photos chloeviolet, we want to tone down the warm tones in the bricks and to pick out the grey tones, your suggestions are great ideas. It all gives me encouragement that I was on the right track with some of our thoughts. Thanks everyone for your input/photos/ideas.

love the comments and the modern update for the bricks are my favourite

We had the same dilemma with our 70's brick home. Ours are similar colours and we decided on the blue/grey colorbond roof and down pipes, and painted the window frames and trims Dulux Ironstone. Couldn't be happier with it, and so glad we didn't render!

I'm sorry but I really don't like you bricks, they are much too busy so I would render them. It will completely give your home a fresh more modern look and change your roof to Colorbond which will help immensely.

This is our home before and after our Reno. We altered our roofline as well with a parapet wall.

I prefer the before actually; had more character.

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.

Corvettman, I love tiled roofs as well, I like it that they are quiet and have better insulation properties, don't get they are so not done anymore

In the pics that Carole has added, the windows go right to the roofline, so that the light from inside the house actually lightens outside as well. Especially in the evening with that warm glow. I agree that rendering will be a domino affect and the character of your house is lovely. Money better spent extending windows, and I would go step by step as previously suggested. And definitely spend most energy on the garden as it is actually the most outdated aspect in this pic. Best of luck. Can't wait to see afters!

Iizpas, i noticed your beautiful transformation on the facade of your home.

I was wondering if you have details to the builder and company that didn't the transformation.? Thanks again

Bricks are timeless.

chloevioletI have known your house for a very very very long time, and I must say that it has never looked so good. Great work and so tastefully done!!

Just some ideas

Rendering is very expensive and a future maintenance problem. Embrace those suggestions above in regard to keeping your brick and working around it.

Lispas who did you facade renovation??