there are companies who will spray paint your shutters with a 2 pac finish that will bring them up like new again however it is costly, about half the cost of buying new shutters. If you are interested in this, send me an email and I will give you the name of my contact. Otherwise, consider adding drapes in front of the shutters in a colour that complements your new room colours or in white. Finally, depending on the location and functionality, maybe replace some of the shutters ( if in more than one room) to simpler blinds and only have some of the shutters professionally treated.

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.

Hey Dounia The colour and the way it has been painted is very much what we saw in the late 90's and early 2000's when we all went through the textured paint feature wall craze. But, saying that Paint and design technology have come a long way since then and I would encourage you not to give up on the copper idea and use a modern approach and product. Dulux have recently added their new range of Design Effects, Here's the copper and concrete look. There's also other options available at www.dulux.com.au. You can email them for a copy of their brochure or they are readily available at Bunnings in the paint section. Thanks Paul

Hi again Kate, Thanks. The 'white' in the kitchen tiles is actually a cream colour. Photos don't always reveal the true colour. But I like your idea. I think I'll keep the same colours in the kitchen as they work well; they just need a refresh. I do love white, and I'm still inclined to go with white in the other rooms, with perhaps a cool or warm undertone on the walls and a lighter white for ceilings. On the elements at home site, http://elementsathome.com.au/2013/02/12/how-to-choose-your-white-paint/site it talks about and shows the difference between cool whites (slight blue/grey undertone) and warm whites (red, yellow undertones). I think I'm leaning towards cool whites as the lounge, dining and bedrooms have good size windows so a fair amount of natural light. I have a lot of bright art and pottery on display in all rooms so I think this would add colour in the rooms against the whiteness. Thoughts?