I would ask your builder if you could use the brick in the display to the front parts of the house that you can see from the street, and use the cheaper standard brick to the sides and rear. If you love the selections in the display, and can't visualise any other colours then play it safe and use the display home colours. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

I'm with oklouise -- do both doors in timber . It won't be too much , but heres what I would do to guarantee that -- the pillar I would do in a lighter coloured stacked stone -- a schist or similar . real or manufactured , but not too 'planned' or even . That brings in the timber and stone and the natural elements , but importantly it has the 2 tones and adds interest . The rest -- It is a bit dependent on roof colour , buts here's a basic idea . Go quite light colour on the main render -- maybe a light surfmist or similar . Then what is mid-grey on the illustrations , go a mid steely blue grey ; that dark panel go a lighter charcoal , unless your roof is a lighter charcoal -- in that case , I'd go a darker charcoal for the contrast .

The current tender works with the bricks on unrendered part of the house. Are you planning on rendering all round? If not, I’d stay with a similar colour to what you have currently or leave as is. The windows look fairly new and whilst you can paint them I’d seriously consider the need to. The verandah and lack of landscaping are the two main things that let the house down and this is where I’d spend money first.

Imagine that -- a grey on grey house looking boring haha ! Without being too critical , it looks like a 1950's rendered house plonked on a block base that has been painted grey or charcoal . Just my opinion , but the upstairs looks too uniform , with all the windows the same . They don't really match that downstairs 'horizontal' window , but it will sort of work , assuming the window frames/trims all match ( same profile , colour , etc ) but if its not too late , I'd seriously consider making the middle of the 3 'front' upstairs windows quite a bit larger , maybe 100mm wider each side , maybe also 100mm shorter but keep all 3 windows top aligned ? Then I'd do the upstairs render in an off-white , something along the line of surfmist , as it has a bluish tinge , which will tie in with the grey , but it isn't grey . The garage door/front door combo in wood is always my favourite , and I know those pics are just designs , but add a more interesting front door -- definitely don't just carry the horizontal wood of the garage door through . Go with the same wood/stain , but have maybe 3 off-centre little square windows ( to sort of reference the other 'groups of 3 ) , or glass ( non-opening ) up one side , with a narrower door , as it looks quite wide . Downstairs colour you can go with the mid-grey and charcoal , although I'd love the 'column' done in a stacked stone -- a schist or similar -- even if it was only the bottom 800mm or so -- although the stone works best with lighter colours , so maybe you'd 'have to' do the coluns in your mid grey , the rest downstairs in the lighter grey , upstairs in the even lighter off-white -- combined with the stone , and the cedar or similar doors , its going to look at least $50k more , for $20k or less ( depending on how far along you have gotten obviously ) . Use colour , but also imaginative window placement etc , to add interest -- others may disagree , but I don't think that will make your place look too unusual or specialised ( harder to resell , because we all do at some stage ) , and will look cvlassier , more interesting . Of course , budgets and banks may not allow that , and/or you may screw your nose up , but thats my take .