What an incredible space! You seem to have an unusual mix of design elements here. I see a mix of contemporary and Spanish styles fighting for dominance. You could easily go either way and the house would be stunning. It depends on you style taste. My choice would be to go with the Spanish influences to soften the facade. Here are some ideas I had: (see photos at end) The harshest feature are the windows. To ease the strong lines I'd opt for placing dark hand hewn wooden beams over the 3X window bay and the 4X window bays, along with the widow way at the top over the porch area. Under these windows I would add fabricated mouldings that are in the pictures below. For the entry way you need to draw more attention in that location. To do this the door needs some attention. Try either stipping the present door and staining it a stain with orange tones (see photo) or paint the present door in this color tone. In addition, placing wrought iron grills in the door windows would work to soften the entry as well. (you can find faux inserts or use wrought iron) To call more attention to the front door, and softening the harsh line above the porch I'd put in place a pergola extending outward to the front of the 4window bay that matches the wooden beams over the windows. Now the eye travels to one location instead of drifting back and forth. I see you have wonderful downspouts. I would bring attention to those as well and paint them an aged copper tone. To give the house a "Top" I suggest painting the moulding along the roofline a brown color to match the wooden beams. This way the house won't float. It will be grounded. To keep the garage area from looking like an after thought encorporate it by changing out the doors with wooden doors that have a line of square windows in the top frames only. Try matching the beams to the garage. I too would suggest changing out the light fixtures to better fit the size and style of the home. I have a photo of a Spansh style home attached that has a nice choice. (The long lights) Finally, I would use planting to soften the house a bit. Perhaps removing the popsicle bushes and placing in some Italian cypress. I see them placed one on either side of the 3window bay and one of the far right of the 4 window bay.

Hello, depending on the colour schemes you like. I suggest spraying the roof (probably charcoal colour) painting the gutters and fascists to match. Paint the bricks a light to medium colour. Windows and boards in white/light to contrast. As a neutral beige time selection I would recommend the following (without the fan deck in front on me). Roof, gutters & fascias - Colorbond Woodland Grey Bricks - darker then Dulux Beige Royal (Linseed is probably a little green but the right depth of colour) Windows & boards - Dulux Beige Royal half Keep the roof line as it is, the colour change will be amazing.

Hi Jaimia, I tend to agree with 12sally12 sentiments. Celebrate the house and it's foibles (boxiness, entry, colour, balcony treatment). However it's great to adapt a home to make it yours - just making the right decisions is the hard part! The extent of change depends on your budget and your tolerance for inconvenience. I've listed a few ideas that vary from 'nice to have' to significant structural (and cost) changes. These will affect the colour scheme, and therefore the way it will appear overall. Roof – dark colours appear heavier and more dominant. Your home looks to be built in the 70's, it's likely due for a new roof soon. Consider a fresh new zinc or white colorbond roof. Upgrade the gutters and downpipes at the same time. Balcony – remove the clutter (replace handrails), and extend the balcony beyond the face of the main facade. This will give the effect of elongating the front elevation of your home. The detail of the new handrail extending along the continuous balcony frontage should in turn provide a fresh new look (more contemporary). Arches – these could remain, or go (depending on your desire to keep the quirkiness). These are likely to be aesthetic brickwork only - but check with a structural engineer if these can be removed. Entrance – there are two parts to this: The first aspect is to do with the appliance from the street frontage. Prioritise making the front door the most welcoming part of your home. This can be done with a pathway from the front of the site, with garden areas and great planting to accentuate the entrance to your home. The other aspect of the entrance is how entrance 'reads' from the outside of your home. This depends a little on your location (and climate). As a guide I'd suggest revising the entry wall, including the door and windows proportions to 'open up' this part of the facade to the street. This should be designed in the context of those iras listed above, as well as benign conscious of security and protection from sun loading. I hope this helps Jaimia, (Keep in mind many of the aspects listed above will require structural design asa minimum!) Cathi

you could put a wash (e.g a lime wash)over the top of the doors to lighten them up a little and get rid of the orange tone to a certain degree, that way you dont have to spend too much time stripping them back and prepping them, you will still see the grain as well, unfortunatley the orange will always be visible through a wash, unless you stain them darker. You could go totally left field and stain them more of a walnut brown, that can look quite modern and dress it up with handles, that way you will still see the grain. The inside of the doors wont be flat, been a raise panel, they will more then likely have a 3mm lip and still have the arch on the inside.