Hi Matthew we bought an old doer upper that needs refreshing so I was keen to follow your post. We so far painted the front door replaced front letterbox guerney washed the concrete drive and have bought a panel lift door for the carport. We removed all the overgrown trees. Maybe guerney wash your roof , driveway and front steps, thats our next job (roof) and start with the gardens. If you keep the awnings - spraypaint them in a single tone, paint or replace the driveway fence, Remove that tall shrub or trim it, plant a row of plants up along the drive. Great house, like ours you can only improve it in value. Enjoy renovating!

Hi Sarah, If you refer back to my initial 'Help' post, you will see the ideas were already there and our dilemma was actually more in relation to which paint colours might work with our bricks. Also, I'm not sure where the idea of us not wanting to add a garden has come from as my post clearly states that the improvements 'will also include a simple low maintenance garden'. I can only assume that the confusion has come about due to so many expressing that we should just do the garden and not worry about anything else, but that would simply put us back to where we were before the previous garden was removed. With all due respect, I can appreciate that many have posted in an effort to save us from what they consider to be unnecessary work and expense, and for that I am truly grateful, because it would be really lovely to simply not worry about doing anything, and as you said, go and enjoy a holiday instead! :) That said, people also need to acknowledge that we are not all of the same opinion when it comes to buying or selling a home. Aside from focusing on our revamp, we've also been actively searching for our 'retirement' home. Suffice to say, the first thing we notice while driving around is kerb appeal, or should I say, a lack of when it comes to some properties, including ours at the moment! :( While the photo's may look good, in reality, the exterior is tired and dated, with the gravel driveway being close to bare earth. Compared to the interior of our home, costs outside have been relatively minimal, therefore I can honestly say that we are quite excited about this project, but, it's goes without saying that we don't want spend a bomb either. Might just be the only little revamp this exterior's ever going to get! :D Anyway Sarah, full credit to you for giving me my first aha moment, which came through reading the final paragraph of your post. You've made me realise, that up until now, some of the decor and colour preferences I've presented are those both myself, and my husband would like if we were the prospective buyers, as opposed to what might work in favour of a broader market. Therefore, after some discussions tonight, we have concluded that... Columns, will definitely be plain square, as round will appear too similar to the existing ones. Front Door and handle will be simple classic Porch tiles - both against the idea of painting, so will definitely replace Paint - haven't ruled out neutral creams. Colour is simply something we're going to have to experiment with Existing gates will stay and get a repaint Our home is a spacious 3 bedroom/ 2 bathroom/ 2 car space with granny flat out the back, therefore we see it appealing more to couples with a young/growing family. I can't thank everyone enough for their time and effort in providing an endless stream of invaluable advice and photos... it's been nothing short of enlightening and I only wish I could print the visual that's in my mind now, compared to the muddle that was present when I first reached out for help. As with any revamp, the journey will be a mix of both highs and lows. That said, it's the end result we're working toward, and we expect to achieve nothing less than a positive outcome. Cheers again to all, Sandi :)

As someone who bought a brick house recently, a major reason for the decision was the low maintenance of unpainted brick. So, no, don't paint the brick! The facade above the brick looks heavy and dominating because it is so bright white and all one colour. Why not go for a more retro look, break up the solidity of the overhanging facade by painting the vertical trims a different colour? Pick a colour that compliments the brick and keep in mind that colours were more adventurous in the 70s. Embrace the fun of the beach and the retro look without going overboard. Leave the brick as is, paint window trims to contrast and catch the light., maybe add shutters in the same colour to make windows look bigger and add more to catch the eye under the eaves. And paint the front door a fun, bright colour. Citrus colours catch the light and pop, but check they don't clash with the colour of the brick. You need contrast and brightness. Our blonde brick house was built in 1960. We painted the front door, the awning over our sliding doors and our garage door all the same colour: bright citrus orange (the garage door has 2 horizontal white stripes). The result was an instant uplift. We then had the roof restored and painted a terracotta colour (concrete tiles) and cleaned the eaves. The house looks fresh as a daisy and so much more attractive. The paint cost about $100, and the roof cost $6000. Money well spent! Then we worked on the gardens. We took out tall plants close to the house and replanted the gardens with more attractive flowering plants, going for colour. It all looks much more inviting now.

Secondly is daughters bedroom, we have a now tween that was most unimpressed that we bought a disgusting house 4 years ago, that we said we'd fix, which we did and promptly left it. Her main brief for us when house hunting was that we wouldn't renovate...however unfortunately it hasn't quite turned out that way. One of our promises to her is that her room is first. This is what we're working with. We're going to keep the built in study nook concept, she's asking for tropical wallpaper behind it, trying to decide if I think we should paint the rest of the room all white, or do a green feature wall to match in with the tropical wall paper in the study nook and the remainder walls white. Window treatments...I don't like curtains that finish at the sill height, so in this room I'm thinking maybe roller blinds, or roman blinds...but would appreciate any input. Problem is once I decide on something I get a bit funny about what goes everywhere else. So if this room gets roller blinds, I feel like that means all the bedrooms should have them for consistency. This is the other view of her room. The whole house has the timber veneer 70s/80s doors in every built in cupboard as well as on the doorways. Hubby wants to keep them...I'm less enthused, and thinking now to keep one or the other, ie replace all the entry doors to update them and leave the timber veneer on the wardrobes, or flip that and go for updated wardrobe doors and leave the veneers on all the entrances. Those hardwoods you can see in the hallway will run throughout the top floor, eventually we'll remove all the carpet and sand and finish the floors, but for now the carpet that is there isn't that old and can stay put.