What an elegant house! I personally love the original white as i think it makes those trademark MCM horizontal lines pop, but I do understand you wanting to have some fun with it too! Oh wow and is that wisteria I spy on the balustrade - amazing! I would paint the green steps/patio surface though - possibly a soft grey would be neutral enough but also freshen it up.

So if you INSIST ; D on painting the white, then I do love Dulux Monument. I painted my very old and shabby peeling powder pink (!) front gate and fence rails on the weekend as a stop-gap until we replace the fence etc,... and it is a pretty amazing colour! We used Dulux Monument tinted using Haymes Exterior Solarshield and it was great, even on hideous surfaces (as I said, it's a stop gap as I couldn't bear looking at the old anymore!).

Thank you. Tbh I would be happy to stay with the white however the green cement balcony has to go as the house is surrounded with green, very little colour elsewhere so I am after ideas on colour if I keep a lot of the white. For example what colour would you paint te cement balcony? I will be investigating moving the aircon box as has been suggested, always wanted to & have decided its a must do :). And I would prefer to not paint any of the brickwork however I am conscious of not wanting more than 4 colours & already if I factor in the roof I have four sigh ....... Am thinking it maybe time for a colour consultant.

Hmmm I know what you mean about not wanting too many colours going on - but if you could count the roof as a neutral (that kind of ties in with the white), and then do a pale grey as the cement balcony, they may still tie together as one visually.

I agree it'd be nice to add some colour and interest, but you've got such great bones to work with, I think it's just about adding to bring out it's style, rather than masking to make it feel like a house built today -it never works very well.

So I would:

- refresh white paint on the white balustrades & windows - even consider spraying. I've just done my front gate that was 1/50th of that size and THAT took a while. Though if you do decide to paint by brush, I found my son's Ikea kids craft brush (it's real bristle) was so much better than any of the proper paintbrushes I had! http://www.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/products/90193320/

- remove the air con unit and even the satellite dish to other locations if you can.

- paint the concrete patio and steps a lighter grey such as Studio Backdrop by Berger (remember that colours come out lighter outside)

- Plant some bright & lush plants like sweet viburnum (providing it's not too shaded, or if so, some hydrangea) where the dark brown bricks currently are, as well as lots of other plants in the front garden - a pretty maple or crepe myrtle feature or some background plants like small cypress etc will actually add more visually and mean the house doesn't have to shoulder all the prettiness! Or go more Palm Springs style (though it looks cool where you are?) and add succulents, pots of Chalksticks, Crassula Bluebird etc. And all still in keeping with the era.

- Then have fun with styling the exterior. Maybe look at some fabulous Slim Aarons photos for inspo! I can see a cool acapulco style chair and (yellow & white!) stripe cushion on the balcony, some succulents in grouped pots - bring back it's heyday when the owners might have had people over for drinks on the balcony! I love this era, the homes can be so light, bright and elegant, but people often try to update (rendering etc!) and lose their original style. Even paint your front door in a matte rich gold yellow or tomato red!

- And a small thing, but the curtains inside being blue and green make it look quite busy too (in reference to your concern around too many colours) as well as looking dark. If you wanted to , it would be great to add white sheers - these are in keeping with the era, will make the house look brighter from the outside too, will make the white windows look even better, and are surprisingly good for privacy (coupled with roller blinds for night).

- I forgot to mention earlier that I would definitely leave the dark lower brick and introduce some plants along there, then you wouldn't even notice the difference. Brick is a pain to paint, you then will have to clean it, it may well peel, bricks are porous and breathe, I definitely would only paint them if you have to, and I really don't think you do - it's another original element and is inoffensive.

- Here's a variety of links/photos for inspiration, but I really think smartening up the house and then adding an interesting garden (there's a few looks you could go for, depending on your climate & taste!) will make it look amazing.

http://thedesignfiles.net/2013/02/melbourne-home-ada-leon-kagan/ 

http://thedesignfiles.net/2016/02/louise-and-graeme-bell/ 

http://thedesignfiles.net/2015/02/tim-ross-and-michelle-glew-ross/

Thank you for all your advice sarah_eddy6 I really appreciate the time you have taken to assist me with my design dilemma :) I loved the links you attached and I was aware of the Tim Ross house. I have a lot to think about and thought I would attach the front of house image so you can see the amount of green surrounding the property so that I can think further about white or darker colours. The planting directly in front of the dark brick is an option on certain parts of the house but generally not in the front however I agree with you on the neutral colours which are there already and shall work on what new colours can be inserted and where. Would also like to move the satellite dish as well as the aircon unit and shall speak to my other half about whether this is also doable. I have decided to not paint the darker brick or any of the brick work so that leaves me with the decision to choose colours for iron balustrading and concrete patio with front door. At this stage I am very keen to paint the front door chartreuse. You have been so very helpful thank you once again & yes I love the Monument colour. Will post images when all is done.