Maybe tranquil retreat with natural white trim - check out on dulux colour visualiser

We used Colourbond Monument grey over our red tiled roof and Surfmist for the trims to update our new home.

I hadn't read your actual post, only the heading and I was thinking greys and white to offset the red and I am guessing you are in a hot climate? Queensland? I was thinking white for the walls, a deep grey for the railings and a lighter grey for some of the trims. Then I read your post. Great minds! lol

Light grey on the windows, deep grey on the window sills. Get rid of that screen door. What is your entrance door like. Can we see a photo looking up the steps?

You can have the tiles painted a dark grey or charcoal to really complete your project .

Watch Ready Set Reno tomorrow, the red tile roofs look fantastic as do the houses.

The Ashgrovian is your house

https://www.yourtv.com.au/program/ready-set-reno/364274/

Thanks everyone for your comments. I don't like the roof because the tiles are quite orange looking in the sun. I also love the look of the very subtle/muted colour combinations but didn't know the actual name of the colours....a friend of mine has just used Cottage White (a pale grey) in his man-cave/garage/work area. It looks beautiful but possibly too pale for an exterior colour.

Here are some more photos of the house. It is quite bad and also many years of dust/dirt on it. From the look of it, I think the original house colours were pale pink, with a pale green trim and lemon features. I can't afford to buy new entry doors yet, so will most likely just get glass replaced where it is cracked in the front door and then paint it. Inside, the house has mixed hardwood polished floors throughout (plus an unrenovated bathroom STILL, which used to have the terazzo floor and with blue bath and pedestal sink. The living area and kitchen has been painted in Dulux Snowy Mountain Quarter (which is very versatile), but the hallway and bedrooms have been painted in Dulux Natural White. All of the trims inside are in Builder's white. The cupboard doors in the bedrooms used to be muted lilac and grey-green, but they have now been painted in Dulux Aqua Enamel in Natural White and they look good now.

These photos are of the front entry to the house:

Front screen door....including the woodpecker type door bell.....mmm....

I still have lots to do on my place, but at the moment, finances are limited until I complete my teaching studies, and so the 2 biggest priorities are bathroom renovation and to paint the front of the house at least, then decide what to paint over the pink and yellow at back door....

These photos are of back of the house:

Photos below are of an area at the back of the kitchen above the back stairs, looking from the inside of the house, out onto the backyard. I haven't ruled out moving the back door to align with the back of the house and not above the back stairs where it currently is. I think that the door may have been moved to its current position at some stage. The bathroom is behind the window above the back steps. That window is 90cm wide. I am planning to turn it into a full length louvre window 60cm wide and with satin glass (for privacy) and screened (due to regulations and also security). My neighbours have decks off their houses and look onto an offleash park/brook at the back of the houses, but I don't have the funds to do a deck at this stage. The back of the house is South aspect and it is in Queensland, so yes, it gets hot.
This is the actual colour of the current trims on house...YUK!!!:

And it looks like the previous owners sprayed the paint on the house last time it was painted, so it is all bumpy and will need to be stripped right back.

Looks like many layers of paint over the years and some will be lead based.

CC watch the program on 9 tomorrow, the second one is a stunning Queenslander something that yours can aspire to cheers

Oh I love your front door! It would look lovely painted in a nice strong gloss colour! Such a shame you might have to lose your woodpecker door bell though, lol. I was thinking a nice timber screen door. My back door was at the top of the steps like yours. I replaced it with a glass and timber door from Bunnings and hung it in line with the house. Much better. Works better, lets more light in and lets more breeze flow through the house.

Creativelychallenged, you said you like low contrast colour schemes. I just saw this on Pinterest. I don't know how current the colours are but I thought it may be food for though and perhaps Celery Girl, with her excellent photoshopping skills, might be add a red roof for you.

Sorry, missed one pic. The house looks lighter in the sun.

Thanks Legendaryflame...those photos are great..(I will check out those colours)...I saw another house today that I like the colours on. It was one Dee and her husband (ex the Block) renovated in Kew, Melbourne. It was a lovely grey but I have no idea what colour she used. If you get a chance, would it be possible for you to send a photo of your back door. That is a good idea what you did.

(The red/orange roof really ruins a lot of colour schemes...I have admired that surfmist colour bond roof colour on other grey houses in the past).

CC pleased to hear that you watched and liked Dee & Darens reno on Ready Set Reno on Channel 9, it's a lovely house both the D's house and the Ashgrovian Queenslander will be shown around midday on Saturday. Re the colours that were used just contact the program I'am sure Michael and Carlene will be very happy to help you with any questions

This looks nice

Yes, it does look great, but I was hoping to get the names and brands of the colours...I guess I could take some photos to a colour consultant.....I do love grey houses, but then again, sometimes the "character" of the tile roof (orange tiles) stands out more when the house is a classic white......

In the picture above, they seem to have used an offwhite for window frames , but possibly a blue-green charcoal for gutter trims etc. I am not sure....

My house is also a chamferboard (flat timber) not a weatherboard (angled timber - which I think has more character).

Hi sirluskey, yes thanks for the tip - I watched ready, set, reno on my computer yesterday - luckily it only had the most previous episode - otherwise it could become addictive!!!! I saw a few nice things in it, including the pale blue-grey pendant lights Dee had used in her kitchen, but unfortunately there was no stockist list.

My house looks a bit like the Ashgrovian (that is on today's show) from the outside, but it is not an Ashgrovian, because my place has the mixed hardwood (thin timber planks) and masonite walls with rounded cover strips and fibro (asbestos) ceilings and very simple inside, whereas the Ashgrovians tend to have gable roofs and usually have the dark walls (stained) and then have a book rail around the living room wall and then the wall is painted a colour above that point. I think the floors are usually the dark timber in one shade. (I am not an expert, but I am just picturing some of the Ashgrovians that I have seen....there is actually a few in the suburb of Ashgrove - not sure if that is where they got the name from.

I think my house may be classed as a 1960's post war. I think it was built in 1962.

I can see that you have problem getting the right colour and fittings for your house, it is impossible for us to guess exactly what you would like and where to buy. But, if you make a board or save all the photos you like and write down what you like about it , you would be better off getting some professional help to guide you to achieve the look you like. Colours are hard to get right even when you have all the samples in your hand I have recently repainted large living room and I bought 20 sample pots before I found the right one even the last one did not look 100%right But I had enough and decided to paint anyway and fortunately it worked out. So to save yourself time and money hire someone to help you.

PS the reason I am suggesting a professional help is that they can help you out with interior paint scheme as well and you will be able to start on renovation sooner.

All this houses have red roof and look great.

I agree the red roofs are classic.

CC yes Ashgrove is a lovely part of BNE, the house that is being featured there tomorrow is larger and most likely a different period to yours but that doesn't mean it wouldn't work, and you did mention possible lifting of the house which will make it bigger . It doesn't matter if you don't have picture rails etc, your house will have it's own period pieces & charm, hopefully, like the security door. This is the first series of ready set reno, so look forward to see what they get. Hope you check out the "Ashgrovian" tomorrow, cheers

Dees pendant concrete lights are readily available in different shapes from big suppliers and online, Ready Set Reno would be a good place to start

Ready set reno is on now Friday 1300 9Life

I like the suggestions of the white and grey and to make the roof work it really needs that black or really dark charcoal it breaks the colour up yet helps it pop the orange red colour of the roof would need that 'break' of strong colour as shown in the pics that oskuee put here, also any paint department usually has a professional to help advise colours so go to a reputable paint dealer and ask for help, good luck.

Thank you for all the ideas. If I paint the house grey, with white window frames, what colour do u think I should battens at ground level around the house z

The link below tells you the name of the colours of the picture above I posted, as well as some tips on picking paint colours.

http://www.haymespaint.com.au/federation-home-pops-with-modern-colours/

That’s great Dakota. Thanks . I now have a few nice options to mull over .

Keep the battens uniform to the colour of the house so that it flows correctly as you will have the trims to break up the colour and I looked at the haymespaint link and notice the steps and porch painted black that gives more depth to the colours chosen without overdoing it.

No worries. I would paint the concrete posts, the same dark colour as your door, (black or very dark grey) .....and the slats the same white as window trim or as m_mdimond has suggested, the same colour as the house cladding (blue/grey).

Dear Creatively Challenged , I can recommend Dulux Colour Consultants, I gave up after about 5 sample pots . At the time it cost me $150 and if I used dulux paints I could claim a full refund . That was 12 years ago . I didn’t realise at the time just how good they were , the colours are still in fashion but it’s ready for another paint job for sure. It was such a relief to have someone in who is trained and fully understands colours and fashion and what goes with what . I finally stopped stressing about it and got the job done ✅