Thank you. Yes I do like the sound of a charcoal colour but am hoping it won't dominate the look of the house and make it look to dark. Cheers

there are way too many colours going on here. Your home is a traditional style and yes the cream and green are traditional colours with the reddish brick however why did you put grey around the windows??also you have red scollops above the grey and it doesn't do the house justice. What colour was there before you painted the grey?? considering grey is a more modern colour I think you were attempting to modernise the externals. in saying that the roof would have been better to paint charcoal the cream in white and then the grey and then the driveway would be done in a grey stain. but if you leave it the way it is and cover the red scolloping above the windows the same grey and the bricks below the windows near the ground grey as well then get the drive way restained to the reddish colour of the bricks on the house and then it would blend more and look inviting.

Thank you all for your comments, photos and links. Thank you all for your comments, photos and links. This style of house is what I like but I only have a small budget -$5000.00. I have researched roof painting and read several forums where people have painted their own roofs with good results as long as they were meticulous with the preparation. I will remove the shutters and definitely engage the services of a garden designer. I live in Perth and we haven't seen rain for awhile. Seems sensible to get rid of the lawn. And I will further research painting or re surfacing the driveway and change in the future. But, where do I start? What should I do first to implement change? Thank you for any further comments.

It's the landscaping I'd look at. The right (arched) side of your house is much prettier than the garage side, but is largely obscured by letter boxes and planting. The front path is an after-thoughty offshoot of the driveway. So from the street your focus is pulled to the wrong side. I'd demolish the mail box, and create a new pathway from the street to the front door, with pretty planting either side. Move the small tree in front of the door elsewhere, and keep the plantings in that bed low. Then paint the front door a bright colour, (yellow? turquoise?) to draw attention to it. Does the driveway need to be so wide, or could you curve in one side or another to expand your garden beds? Your lawn/existing beds are in fantastic condition btw. I don't love the driveway brick colour against your house bricks either. Don't really know the solution though.