Yes the eastern states have been copping it. Snow etc, I am not a fan of cold. In the west has not been as bad, just a bit of a whinger when I think how cold you guys have had it, even Brisbane. I am waiting for those new solar panels with battery storage capacity (tesla) to come down in price in the next few years, before we retire I would like to have them in and paid for.

georgi02 "follow some simple guidelines, the ones that people frequently aren't told when buying wall gardens and you end up finding out the hard way" Plant walls are fashionable and seem ideal for small spaces but it would be good if the stores that sell the bits and pieces told people it's not just a trendy decor item, it needs some gardening expertise. mutcherson, is there any space between that deck and the fence? IMO the most successful low-maintenance gardening is the right choice of plant growing in the ground. As soon as you start messing around with unusual plants, unusual containers, unusual locations, you start having additional challenges. But I reckon if you want it's worth having another try with a wall using georgi02 's instructions. Succulents are easy to grow from cuttings and forgiving of lack of water. When you take cuttings of succulents you are supposed to put them aside for a while before potting them and I have found pieces I forgot I cut weeks earlier and managed to grow them. I have had some problems with succulents but that was because of frost so you you won't have that challenge.

I think the task of transforming homes like these is an exciting challenge! If your budget is not huge then timber trimmings and paint can make a huge difference here. You could paint the brick, or better still clad it with weatherboard to soften the house, but if the budget does not allow the whole house to be clad just do the front and go around the corners by about a meter and then paint the bricks at the sides and back to match. You definitely need a verandah across the front, with the steps centred and going straight down to meet the gate - this will transform the facade and is worth spending the money on. If you dont want to change the windows consider framing them with timber to make them look larger and replace the front door with something nicer, luckily your door is centred with same size windows either side. Id suggest replacing the fence with a picket fence and matching gates to hide the concrete driveway and then screen off the long side driveway and camouflage the overhang with a picket gate to match. Paint choices here are really important, it looks like your neighbours homes are beige or grey? Consider painting the house a classic colour such as dusky blue or sage combined with light trimmings to make yours stand out from the surrounding neutral homes (ive done a couple of quick mock-ups below as examples) You need some plants but your front yard is not large so a single, low height feature tree with mulch or pebbles instead of lawn would look wonderful plus a couple of strategically placed pots. Good luck!

Do you have fly screens on that window? If not, you could add an outdoor window box along the length of the window and put some lovely lush plants in it. If you do have flyscreens you could look at adding shelves for an indoor garden across the bottom section of the window.