Ok, clearly you want to get a big change, but don't have the budget for it just yet. So you need wallet friendly options. My suggestion would be to whitewash ALL the brick walls. It literally is the fastest thing you will ever do and is ridiculously cheap as you water down the paint. If you try painting the brick instead of whitewashing, it may look whiter, but bricks soak up so much paint and it could cost you a small fortune. So I'd whitewash until youve saved enough money to do what you'd like in the long run. Once you've whitewashed, then also assess if you want to paint wood trims in white, but you probably will as it will still contrast nicely with the not so white of the white washed brick. Possibly don't paint the actual ceiling beams Other cheap suggestions with big impact I'd possibly do would be to choose one solid unbroken wall in every room (like the long wall on the left side of the pic running from the living into the dining) and simply stick up connecting wood panels you can buy from Bunnings, then I'd paint them a white along with the pine panels in the ceiling so it all matches. This helps to break up the feeling of soooooo much brick in every room and fits in with the other theme of all the wood. Possibly also make a feature of the fireplace by black washing it? Same idea as white washing, just use black paint instead. Or you could just paint it as its only one small area. Would really make it pop and break up all the white. You could possibly also team this with staining the ceiling beams in an almost black, would make all the beautiful features in the room stand out! What ever you decide, good luck and have fun!

The next one - the Scandi/Industrial one is to build and sell. The one after, 'should ' be the last one - the forever house. Re: the shipping container. We did do all the work ourselves - well my husband fitted out the container and an attached caravan in two weeks! At the conclusion of the build of the house pictured, we put the whole lot up for sale and ended up selling it to a family that was doing the same thing in country NSW. We've started a business called Container Homes R Us with the plan to make little homes for people, not so much houses made of shipping containers - cause in our opinion, that costs more than just building a standard home but making it look like a container. We probably couldnt start anything till next year though, which gives customers time to think about their design.

Not sure which person you were asking ... can only say how mine was modernised with the 60/30/10 colour rule working with existing colours. Removed window "panes" as previously mentioned above then fancy metal brackets next to (plain square) wooden columns. Painted all columns, verandah support beams, undereaves front and back, verandah ceiling, garage doors (fake panels were previously contrasting) in an off-white tone similar to the brick cement pointing. From colour tones in the bricks (and slate tiles on back terrace!), later painted gutters, front screen, gable ends and other woodwork at the back - railings etc. - in a deep blue. Down pipes mostly painted blue, except front column. Added same off-white pull down external window blinds on upper level and roll up blinds on lower level for additional climate control. Internally, Venetian blinds and/or curtains... be prepared for lots of awkward cleaning with plantation shutters or Venetians. Slate currently remains, along with pebblecrete elsewhere, as other priorities internally and in garden.

Hi everyone, You may remember my posting Design Dilemma back inJune/July 2017? Thanks for all your amazing suggestions and ideas. Many of our grand plans were just beyond our budget. We had considered so many professional recommendations, -removing load bearing walls, -installing larger windows. -Restoration of the copper rangehood ...a total rebuild as copper was on the front surface only with limited space contained within structure for ducting and fans. Time to rethink ! -Remove the tiled floor?...the tiles covered an extensive area with underfloor heating so jack hammering would have been our only option. Another rethink! -Skylights ? Not an option and we already had solartube type skylights installed in a very steep roof. No other choices available. Paint over internal cedar and brick walls? We were left totally confused!! Enter kitchen consultant number 4! A fresh look and approach to solving our dingy outdated kitchen, yet keep with integrity of our cedar lined and brick interior. All renovations now completed. We are really happy with the outcome. Before...