Australia has nice examples of painted and rendered Art Deco homes. If it was a different kind of brick I would say keep it, but I think painting/rendering would really brighten the place. I love the windows. Although all pics here don't exactly match your style, they are all of that era. As mentioned in above comments, there are mix of landscaping styles that suit from conifer/gravel/grass to cottage rose garden to an Australian native garden. Do what reflects you and how much time you have for your garden.

if you want a bench seat with a lift up lid for storage a handyman or carpenter or kitchen or joiner/cabinetmaker could easily make something suitable..if you also want a cushioned seat ask an upholsteror about the seat (and backrests?)..The best person for the job will be the one that offers the best options to suit and a price you're happy to pay. Based on work we've had done around our home i would expect labour and materials for this job to be minimum $1000 but a good handyman could easily make something out of scraps for much less and it could also be useful to research suitable freestanding bench seats in furniture that might be cheaper and more flexible to use and at least give you some ideas for the look you prefer

Hi kristymacd, after changing my mind many times we went for a built in 1700 bath! Mostly as builder and tiler thought it would be easier to slope the floor properly and I liked the idea of the slightly larger built in compared to the 1590 back to wall. I’m sure a back to wall would’ve been possible and been fine, it all just got a bit hard and I knew both would look good. And I don’t think a back to wall would be any harder to clean than a built in - with a built in you have the hob and tiled face of the bath and back to wall there is the floor either side of the bath - same same! Here’s a pic of ours, not totally finished yet but really happy with it.

Hi How2Girl, I appreciate your follow up! The Reece document is good - thanks - I wish there was something concrete in the Standards though. Worth notiing is that a shower over the bath needs the same wall-sheeting details as if it was a shower base. Also wall framing in the bathroom needs to be done to AS 1684.2-2010 Residential timber-framed construction - Non-cyclonic areas (Which the James Hardie 'wet area design book' is based on) Very frustrating that the Australian Standards are not readily available - ie FREE- or at least, latest copies at local libraries. How are we meant to build to standards when they are inaccessible. Another factor in determining the overall quality of the Australian construction industry Also what I've found frustrating in this instance is that other trades in my small town are unwilling to agree that the work is of very poor quality - there is an unstated 'brotherhood' at work. So Im going to have to engage an independent Building Certifier, probably from out of town. Of course,the cost for this will come off the builder's fees on a pro-rata basis for below-par work