Thanks for asking.. I am so happy.. the house was so decayed so we decided to rebuild the same look of a 100 year old cottage but move all the living to the front for the river view.. so happy we did it and went for light grey and white and yellow.. so pleased and we have people in the park comment.. we could not go any bigger because of council and flood zone but it makes it special as it is. Some pictures I just took.. I took a picture of the outlook so you can see why it feels just right.. still work to do as in the gardens and just finding the right plants to put in as it is full sun. Will ask for help on that one too to make it feel cottagey but not block the view. Thanks again for asking. Karen

From the title I was expecting something completely different. I think your house has good traditional street appeal. The two things I notice are the balustrading and the landscaping, which I see others have also commented on. I'm not sure what to suggest about the balustrading but somehow it looks not quite right to me. I think those ornamental panels look too busy? Landscaping can really enhance a house. Yours looks quite nice in the second picture but in the first picture it draws attention to the fact that there is no clear entrance. Be careful if considering painting brick or replacing aluminium with timber. You could end up with a high-maintenance facade that looks like a budget reno. I think your house could be completely updated with render and new windows and glass balustrading and maybe a stackstone feature, and I have seen some like that which look beautiful and it's hard to believe it's the same house. But if you don't want to go the whole way then I think you can get a nice result by working with what you have as much as possible rather than covering it up.

Hi Leah. As you like timber what about using a decorative timber screen to fit that space? Enough decoration to give privacy, but open enough so light can come through. Kind of like a picture that draws your eye rather than an ugly square of glass. I'm sure houzz has an article showing these decorative screens in various styles. I have some typical geometrical chinese wooden windows in mind, but I'm sure you could find some laser cut specialist to do your design in metal, or a carpenter to do it in wood.

Keep the brick, please don't paint or render. Both eat into your budget (rendering in particular is not cheap), and will mean more ongoing upkeep (render still needs to be painted on a regular basis and with a two-storey house, that is a lot more work). Our house is rendered and we would never have it again. Whenever the house moves, the render doesn't, so is prone to cracking or, over time, pieces even falling off. Even subtle movement can cause hairline cracks, which means regular patching and painting. Quite frankly, most people render an older house to make it look modern, but when rendering becomes passe (which I think is already starting to happen), then the house will look dated again (and render is almost impossible to remove once its on). Also, if you're in an area prone to termites, termites can get in between the render and the brickwork and you won't see the telltale signs of "mud" at the access points to let you know they're there. As far as the rest of the house goes, I totally agree with what Timandra Design recommended.