I like the look of the whitewash walls - its clean. But the 3 hanging pots on the wall don't work for me. It would look better with nothing. Also the pots in the right hand corner are the wrong colour - they clash with the aqua of the pool water. Red or orange would work better here and be more in keeping with the period of the home. Even more aqua would work better. More big pots on the LHS also. But I would leave the bricks alone. Once you change their colour, you will have ongoing maintenance. If they ever need to be repaired or removed, then is the time to change the colour. A small evergreen tree would give you vertical accent in the right hand corner where the pots are. Its all too low and sameness.

If the trims are made out of wood they take the same paint as the weatherboards. For painting a lighter colour over a darker, do the first coat in undercoat/sealer that's been tinted the same colour as the topcoat and do two topcoats. The second one can be done quickly with a narrow roller and not fussing too much with cutting in. I did this on a house 15 years ago and after a gentle pressure clean each year, it looks fleshly painted.

I'm not convinced that the more you spend on paint, the better it is...I painted with cheap ceiling paint by Behr today, 2 gals for $25! I used it in all the closets~ I also tried the cheap Pro eggshell for all the walls. It went on beautifully, and dried to a flawless finish. Granted, all the ceilings in our new home are not smooth, not sure what the correct finish is, very textured! So, paint is forgiving~ Not sure if I will continue to use this paint for the living areas :)

@dreamer yes I was thinking a simple timber balustrade would look better than a more modern one. we are planing on putting a covered deck off the back with a similar balustrade too. @fianou Luca I love fixed upper. They were the reason we bought this house as I could see the potential. it is much harder than it looks go bring a look all together. I was contemplating painting the brick lighter like a wash but to scared to vomit incase it looks terrible and it is an expensive job to do. I was even thinking of putting shutters on the windows downstairs to give the front some texture