Hi, I like the overall concept of the darkish grey, it suits the home. I am a colour consultant and have been working with the Dulux range for 17 years and you are on the right track with the Guild Grey. The Dulux Signature will give you a dark blue house. Another option if Simone Weil which is just a bit lighter than the Guild Grey, if you find that one too dark. Sample pots and A4 brush outs onto white cardboard are the best way to decide, because computer programs give an overall impression of the "look" but are not accurate with colour choices, you can't beat the human eye. All the best, it's going to look great.

You can get any colour paint you like in any strength - 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 or full - its only a colour, so they will mix it to your request. Have you made yourselves a colour board? if not, you will need to get all your selection colours together and then go to bunnings or a paint shop and get some sample pots of the colours you are debating. (yes it will cost to get sample pots, but seriously you need to do it - and get the varying strengths in the same colour as well). If you are worried about the render colour marking, go the 1/2 strength on the render and 1/4 on the mouldings. Your Wow factor will come with your varying textures - brickwork/render and trims/timber doors, and the wrought iron. I'm guessing you have exterior lighting? some beautiful exterior lights will be the icing on the cake.

I had some clients that had this colorbond wrap over their timber fascias, which was a similar style to yours and they were very unhappy with the end result. Judging from the age of your home the existing fascia is probabaly a rough sawn oregon timber which has its own character. As timber can be readily trimmed, filled and sanded, the junctions between pieces, and at corners can be easily disguised to give the impression that they are continuous lengths. The problem with the colorbond material is the lengths are limited, and that the joints cannot be readily disguised. In my clients house the installers overlapped the colorbond wrap, and joined the overlapped part with metal rivets. In their case the joint happened directly over the front door and is really obvious. So before you sign a contract to wrap your existing fascia in colorbond there are a few questions you should ask: 1) Do you repair/replace any rotting timber before wrapping? Or is the rot just concealed? 2) What is the maximim length of colourbond fascia that can be supplied, and how is it jointed? Where will these joints occur? Are the joints weatherproof to windblown rain? 3) How is the colorbond fascia jointed at corners, and finished at the ends of the run? The colorbond finish is flat and smooth, so the existing character of the rough sawn oregon fascias will be lost forever. With the eaves, concealed gutters and timber fascias of your home being such an important element to the style of the home I would be considering spending my money on the maintenance and upkeep to preserve the existing character. At least ask your installer to supply addresses of some previous jobs so that you can see how the joints and corners are treated.

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