Sezopitz - I feel for you. I too had a series of to and fro (and finally gave up) in trying to find a façade that Council would agree with. Unfortunately the issue is fraught with 'opinions' and if the person judging doesn't like your opinion - tough luck buddy! I finally gave up as I could not afford to continually run the 'lottery' of submitting and refusals. The worst part was that I was told "We don't like it", but when asked what they would like was told "Oh, that is up to you" - when it obviously isn't. You like curves, they want angles. Total stupidity.

apennameandthata i don't know... vertical is more shed like style, while we still have a colonial style base and veranda. Dust will be an issue here (although its not so bad in that particular spot on a river, good protection from trees) but pressure wash will be regular practice anyway. Thanks for all your suggestions and I will take all on board, especially sandstone ideas. I don't this I want this house to look pretentious, but how can I describe that, I am after some subtle "wow" factor or something a bit different, but it must look like we knew what we are doing and YES, I want it to look like high quality build and not a transportable house or kit home. The house rectangle is so simple that I worry it may have that boring factor in its looks and that is why I am looking for some ideas. My problem is a tendency to overthink but I hope I will find a balance at some point :) At this stage I think: galvanised tin everywhere (or that zincalum), rusty steel posts, aluminum windows with timber look, sandstone features around main door and sandstone chimney. We had a big flood last year and the spot never goes under water, its on high grounds even though it is only meters from the river.

@Dee painted fly screen door up now. Still haven't painted concrete stairs and verandah.

Hi Emma, in response to your two questions 1) You can paint aluminium window frames with the right preparation, however, it gets tricky where the windows open and are in contact with another part of the frame. Your windows look like they are sliding windows, so they will be hard to paint, where they slide in the track. Even if you can paint all of the window frames the new paint is likely to chip where it slides. Being old aluminium frame windows they will be very poor at controlling heat loss and gain (as the window frame conducts the heat) so I would suggest that you save your dollars and replace them with something more energy-efficient. Many windows are made to standard sizes based on brick opening dimensions so keep an eye out for new/old stock, and wrongly ordered window sizes that are for sale on eBay and Gumtree to match your window opening sizes. 2) Your sill bricks are probably cored (with holes running through them) or have recessed "frogs" on the top face. These holes or recesses are concealed in the way that they are laid. If you slice your sill brick diagonally to flatten out the front in line with the wall then they will be exposed and look really bad. There are lots of other more cost-effective ways to work with what you have and improve the look of your home. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls/Dr Retro Virtual Visits