Not sure where you are located - but there is a professional company that does this type of work called window revival here on the Gold Coast - might be worth a call to them and see if they know anyone in your local area Dont be too harsh on your old aluminium look windows - they are clear anodised windows and one of the best finishes you can have for a long last window - long after your paint has faded the CAA windows will still look good To clean them and make them look shiny and new again - a bit of elbow grease and a thing called a rubbing block - you should be able to purchase this through a local glazing company - it is an abrasive rubber block than will luster up the aluminium like it was new - be kind to anodised windows - they are not an ugly duckling

Cost is not necessarily a big issue as some would expect. The cost's may not be that much different, many say it's more but forget to say by how much....... Some 'standard' but exceptional quality aluminium window and door systems are way more expensive than timber. Some other aluminium systems are quite poor in every aspect, apart from the glazing itself. Not really comparing apples with apples as the quality varies considerably and is quite complicated with so many manufacturers all offering various products at various thermal performance levels. Even some well known brands can be quite poor performing..... requiring double glazing where a comparably priced product but better quality only needs single..... Buyer beware! Window systems are becoming more of a priority during design than ever before. I'd shop around and get costings first rather than giving them boot just yet in particular if you really love them. Maintenance is really just painting (every 5 years?) or oiling the timber. Just keeping everything cleaned goes a long way to lowering the workload. Also being brick, that has reduced your workload again allowing some extra time to look after and admire the timber which you'll be looking at everyday when inside or out.

It's going to depend on personal taste a lot, but I like black windows with the brick, but maybe you're not planning on keeping the brick... I like the look below.

It's always been a bit of a no-no to mix wood with aluminium, however I totally get what you are saying about the pros of using aluminium upstairs. I personally would have gone totally one or the other, only because it bugs me when I go to a house and there is a mixture of window types. I would only do it if it was very difficult to tell them apart ... I know that they can make aluminium now so that it is the exact width of the wooden windows so has the same visual effect.