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.

Thanks Anne and I will look at pale grey given the maintenance considerations. I have already paid for a colour consultant who was great but the Reckless grey she suggested for the house render and basalt gutters/fascia and front wall were too grey when we had the render samples put on and while it had a modern look, it was not giving the beach/coastal feel. I will head back into our inspirations paint store this morning to see if I can find the warm grey colours that have the most similar colour make up to Dune, and go from there. Anne you don't happen to know the dulux colour most close in composition to Colorbond Dune so I know where to start? Thanks again and I would love to hear from anyone who has got a dune roof and hear if they tried light coloured gutters and what render colours they have used on their walls.

Unless you have the money to update everything else to better complement the bricks, painting them will give you a much more updated look. Over the past 18mths I’ve been working on the front and landscape of my current house, including painting the bricks and it has made the world of difference! I’ve attached a before and after photo! Good luck.

Hi Pottsy99, thanks so much for your thoughtful response! You are perfectly right about that infill panel and the original steps which had been removed - goodness knows what was going through people's heads to do this to an old house. I do intend to reinstate the stairs - and link to the front garden which is north-east facing so will be perfect for an informal edible garden. I'm thinking of finding some original encaustic tiles to do the porch floor. It's a good idea to reinstate the steps in concrete - I was thinking about timber on a steel frame (for costs) however concrete will give a more stable feeling . This old California Bungalow however has an perplexing design in that there appear to be two entrances - apparently this was not that unusual for California Bunglalows. The main hallway runs off the side entrance, whereas these steps which come from the front garden lead straight into the loungeroom, with no hallway. So I intend to keep the main entrance to the side, and make the front entrance relate directly to the front garden, using plants and lighting to direct people to the main entrance. anyhow, in regards to the colour pallette, I love your idea of a burgundy roof, however I'm going to tone it down a bit as there's a lean-to at the back where I can have some fun with colour. For street appeal I'm going to keep it toned down - the setting is an Australian bush garden, and I'm looking at a relaxing pallette of greys which I think will make the red bricks sing as well. I've had the red bricks and mortar colour-matched at the hardware store, and there are red/yellow/black tones in them. So the greys will be warm/ olive-greenish. The light colour will be a lighter hue of the mortar (very light beige). The front door will be bright red, with warm white/very light beige trim. thanks again for your thoughts :-)