I think this is the perfect tone next to the brick. If you see it near a light colour, in contrast it may appear that way to some, but seeing it complete has a different impression. I think it looks modern and sophisticated. I would continue to complete the porch and reserve an opinion until then. Paint as much of the rendered base also to get the full effect. Regardless it will be painted so it's worth doing, you will be repainting soon anyway. I don't agree lightening th ecolour, it will look wushu washy next to the boldness of the brick. Your rendered brick has so much feature, this grey will accent that. Paint the rest and live with it for your husband to see. Don't stop at that square. Once you've done that, only then reconsider it. Too many people stop when they start, because they're having a reaction to change, an adjustment has to be made visually, and different is not bad. Light is comfortable, but I can't count the many of period homes that professional specifiers apply this too. How many architecturally renovated homes do you see cream? One more colour I will suggest along these lines, but not better, just slightly lighter is murky water. And last case, dune. Get all three, I would bet on your husband liking dune, which proves my theory, but dont settle on the dullest colour. It won't do the facade favors. Rather it will look ho hum. Render flattens the facade, removes character, so I think it more important than before tonuse these tones to effect to compensate the loss of character. First look at it, I smiled, that's it, keep going. Hard to trust me not knowing me, but many have to success. I have been a dulux colour finalist and are recognized for my colour specifying. Please just see it out, then you can make an informed decision, one where you've had time to adjust to a change.

Thanks. The lattice has been taken off and yes I hated it too. I think the best thing to do is paint the "triangles" in Dune. Raku is a rich dark grey colour with some brown in it. This style of house is called a "Statesman" house and those of you who live in Perth will know them well as they are known for being well built homes. I like our house but not the turrets and they must connect with the Dune render to tie the scheme together. Before the render we had a peach colour brick. The window frames will be painted surf mist. Any ideas for plants to landscape the front garden part. Thanks again.

We recently finished our new house- we chose colorbond dune for the render and pgh bricks in nickel flash, we love it and have had so many compliments. We got tired of seeing every house with a dull monotone brick- ours has soft greys and brown tones. If you go on the pgh or boral brick sites you can check out different colour schemes.

Thank you so much everyone for your great ideas, advice and uploads. I've decided on glass for pool fencing, Dune for render colour, but still undecided about front balustrade and handrails. While I love the idea of stainless steel, I'm still not confident that a modern look will suit the front facade. I keep coming back to the classic look in Lesley's pic but wonder whether white powder coating is the way to go or whether it would be too busy for my facade as I have stairs/handrails to consider. Still pondering over too many choices!