Wow! I've just woken (time difference Down Under) to check the enormous response from all. I'm absolutely thrilled & I will need some time to read through and analyse all the wonderful input, thanks so much. I'm very keen to search MCM. I love Queenslanders but thought that was trying to change the style into something its not to so was swaying towards a bungalow style of a home. We are located in the hinterland of the Gold Coast in Qld and want a home that suits our surrounds. I do not like modern I like cottage/bungalow style if thats possible. Its now 'get ready' for school time, so I'll be back. Thank you for all your ideas and opening my mind. Some ideas I have in pics attached.

Wuff, you wrote my bedroom memories of my room at our farm. Lipstick pink carpet and psychedelic curtains and bedspreads. I still think it was the coolest room I ever had! I am currently using 60's and 70's colours and patterns to decorate my fabulous 1965 built home, with a 1970 sunroom extension. Psychedelic black and white vinyl in the bathroom. The rest is white and beige lamipanel in the wet areas. I have an orange and cream geometric patterned quilt cover and pillow slips I love in my bedroom and found psychedelic lime, purple and hot pink , with white splotches linen for my guest room. I have a lime green glass splashback in my kitchen, with terazzo look minoleum floors and blackwood cabinetry, with butcher block benchtops. I kept to white enamel appliances for 60's authenticity, but did use a stainless steel cooktop. I also have 1960's canisters, two sets one ranges from tangerine, to pale lime, beige, deep aqua and salmon, the others have bight fruits, with black lids. My jug is electric blue, with a matching toaster! I have my original 1970's microwave and food processor, as well as a hand me down 1960's Sunbeam Mixmaster, with all its attachments! My laundry has a mix of cream and beige floral and lime green and more blackwood cabinetry and the benchtop matches that in the kitchen. My sunroom is resplendant with its spotted pine feature wall and lime green and olive cane furniture, with masses of much loved houseplants, including a hoya that occupies one wall, that is as old as I am. Both of us turn 60 next year! The whole house is painted in airey cream, an off white, that just takes the chill out of white white! My lounge is a collection of antique vases, fine bone china, silverware and blond wood lounge and dining furniture, all that were proudly displayed by my parents in the 1960s and 70's when antiques were all the rage! There is not a single tile in my house, by choice, to avoid mould and heavy duty cleaning! I hate cleaning tiles as much as I hate the colour grey! My place is filled with colour! Luckily the beige shot silk curtains that are the bedrooms and lounge are so neutral they go with all the ecclectic items and 60's era styling I so love. Their quality means they should see out at least a century of wear!

Hi, we are extending upstairs over a older red brick home. we have Ironstone windows, gutters, roof. We are going to render the extension but don't want to go lighter like a Dune colour but more of a medium grey. We will be replacing our posts and garage door with timber (also have a timber gate) so I feel like we can get away with a darker grey upstairs render. Do you know a good medium grey that goes well with Ironstone? Initially I was thinking Simone Weil and maybe even Guild Grey if it's not too dark?

Hi Amanda, tricky... I would suggest rendering the brick and the upstairs exterior so it all hangs together. Use a poly-render. The upstairs currently looks like an after thought and is not working with the rest of the building as it is. I would paint the render and roof in colours that work with your existing front door and windows as painting these is not a long term option that is going to last without a lot of maintenance. So I suggest using the existing roller door colour for the exterior walls with a heritage red roof, gutters and downpipes. Above all keep it simple.