@ambulastar1985 - The lack of insulation in Australian homes is indeed appalling. Coming from a European background where insulation standards are very strict (although they differ from one country to another), I fail to understand why Australia is so behind on that matter. We may not have much cold weather compared to Europe but our summers can be extremely hot and it's silly to rely solely on air-con to regulate temperature. So much energy (and money!) could be saved by just planning the house and insulating it properly to start with, without affecting much the initial cost or construction time frame. In France - which is definitely not a leader in environmental matters! - these days, when selling a house, you have to get an expert to estimate how energy efficient your home is and to indicate the energy rating on the ad and sale documents. Houses that are not energy efficient sell for less and can also be taxed at higher rates by councils. It's been a great incentive to get people to think twice when building and/or renovating.

I realise this is an old post . I am wanting to do the same thing and weathered boards are not thin enough. I was also told by the distributer weathered don't guarantee if you stain them dark. What did you use in the end?

Your new home looks fabulous! Congratulations from the Team at North! I am a visual person so I hope you don't mind me adding some photos to help explain colours. Your home has more yellow brick then red like these homes. However the dark grey, light grey and white framing works well with the brick creating a modern clean look. Darker grey for roof, light grey timber/cladding on top level and light grey down stairs around the smaller square windows. You could add a window frame, to frame the windows in light grey/white around the yellow windows or just leave them as they are. Painting aluminum is not recommend unless you get the professionals in. If you wanted to use panels instead of timber have a look at James Hardie cladding - 13 11 03 is the contact number - They have a fabulous products that give you cladding with a paint finish that will outlast any timber you put on your home and is low maintenance. Need to check with the local council as to what roof colours are aloud some don't allow to dark because of cooling costs. Its suggested you pick 3 colours to keep it unified. Its a personal preference what colours you like? Below the white and blue grey looks amazing! Please let us know what you choose. A project is always exciting.

Are you sanding the furniture back to raw? if so feastwaston do lots of staining. you can get them in the paint section of bunnings. Just paint and wipe off is the key and do a small section at the time. Don't do it in a hot place just make sure you do bit by bit and it will come out like a pro did it! Hope that helps, good luck link Feastwatson Stain