I personally think the cladding would look nice and be the easiest to maintain. We also live on the Gold Coast and have a brick house that has been rendered (not by us) and, to be honest, it is not particularly low maintenance (if you want it to stay looking good that is). It is prone to leaching which leaves ugly stains so regularly needs retouching with the paintbrush. It can also develop small cracks in the render due to temperature change and movement. However, the most worrying thing for us is with regards to termites. If you render over your brick on the lower half of your house, it is highly unlikely you will see the telltale "mud" they leave that indicates they are trying to gain access into your house (they climb up in between the render and the brickwork). I would be trying to keep the exposed bricks in preference to rendering over them, particularly if you have a garden bed up against the house anywhere.

@Rachael It's a dilemma, isn't it?! Our house in the bush has ended up with anodised window frames and galvanised iron cladding (i.e. silver that will dull to grey) with a Monument roof. The view is huge and I think the black window frames - while I love them would have looked too urban and have framed the view too much, if that's possible. The view is so big we wanted to look 'through' the windows and their frames. Also, as I said above, dusty exterior window ledges would have driven us nuts. However, if I were in an urban setting, I would have gone for black windows and the dark roof if my views were more intimate. Good luck with the decision making ...

Our last house and our current house both had wood floors and lots of wood furniture. Using area rugs (I've got a weakness for oriental rugs) provides separation between the floors and the furniture. And if the walls are light, as in LesleyH's photo above, you will certainly not feel overwhelmed with wood. The only time there's an issue in my mind is when the walls are also wood clad - that can be a bit confronting and needs management.

Hi! You have posted to the Australian Houzz site, so you may not get the answers you’re after.