I love this house because it is quite sculptural. Before you paint I would remove ALL the vegetation that is crammed up in front of the house. Declutter. I think the garage is a visual problem that needs to be dealt with. SO a brave solution would be to paint it all beautiful black...( a warm black (dulux Terrible Billy has warmth)...nothing with blue or green in it..they look cold) ...including the garage door, or do garage and left side of house black and middle section maybe a colour or a sexy grey. OR paint the whole thing a really good white. Be careful...some whites look like undercoat. Needs to be a warm white. Then you could paint the left wing another shade to distract from the garage. Tell us what you decide....good luck

An old school tiler will know how to do mitred edges. However it depends on your choice of tile. Thin tiles are impossible to mitre neatly, and are prone to damage and water getting past the mitred joint. The trim piece makes it idiot proof and you can get different colours to co-ordinate or contrast with your tiles. As with so many decisions with renovating you are balancing between pragmatism and aesthetics.... Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

Ashjean I have had a play with your house and suggest the following very basic layout at this time to see if you like it I would have the garage on the Battleaxe drive way along with laundry, bathroom and study, this could be built on the boundary with the eaves on this side reduced if needed, Windows would be high light up under any eaves. I suggest that the bedrooms are on the western boundary which will be quieter and cooler with plantings, the hard surfaces of the driveways will store any day time heat that will be released over night Keeping the floorplan simple with removing the extra passage to separate the bedrooms and bathroom and using a simple roof without too many extra ridges will save you money. Can you please confirm the front width of your block and the length

Natural stone is a great feature that helps connect your home to the site and I like your selection. However too many times I have seen stone used incorrectly and it looks cheap and nasty. If you are going to the added expense of applying a stone finish then don't shortchange yourself and regret not doing it properly every time you walk past it or are there enjoying your fireplace. A couple of rules to go by with stone. 1. If you are going to make a feature of something the clad the entire feature not half of it, otherwise it will look like you ran out of money - how embarrassing! 2. Always think in 3D. Natural stone is a 3D material and should be applied to all exposed surface not just one. I have seen columns clad only on the street face and it looks so cheap. Trust me - don't go there. Paint it a feature colour and save up to do the job properly if need be, after all you deserve the best. 3. When applying the stone wrap it around the corner. DO NOT finish one face with a raw edge and start the next face - again it looks so fake. There are three basic ways that you can treat an external corner so it looks real. (i) Mitre the corners so with half or 1/3 rd 2/3rds tiles or stone. You the start the second face with the balance of the sheet that when mitred to the first sheet looks as one solid piece of stone. (ii) Finish the stone hard up against another element that will conceal the raw edge. (iii) Select a stone that comes with a specially cut corner tile. These are usually natural stone that have been had the back specially cut out to form an "L" for the corner. ECO OUTDOORS offer a selection of stone walling with the corner stone. It may not be cheap but it sure looks good and saves you sitting in front of your fire saying "I wish we had spent the extra and done it properly. Trust me it will eat away at you for years to come.