We have an old house with bagged walls over brick. The walls were already bagged when we purchased house. It looks good to me. I have no idea what colour bricks were originally, the only old pics we can find out the house it is painted, built late 50s. When we bought half the house was painted a rather confronting orange terracotta and half was cream, the house was a failed renovation project. We have painted it blue and white. I really am happy with it, it is certainly not smooth like rendering which I think would have not looked right for this house.

Thank you so much everyone for taking the time to respond. Your first photo siriuskey is the colour scheme I'd love to go with so good to hear that you'd think it would match with the blonde brick. I also like the shale grey roof idea butterflyroof and you're right that you don't see much of the roof at all (mainly when looking out the upstairs bedrooms). The olive green is definitely another possibility to look at oklouise and I've made a note to use 'mid-century' in search terms. Definitely plan to pressure clean bricks and a bit relieved to hear that leaving them is the better option. I'm still finding it hard to imagine a darker grey cladding like monument with the blonde brick debluc but it's certainly been suggested a few times so I'll keep searching for inspiration. Thanks again :) (attached is a photo of a house near us that I like and that has a brownish tinge to the cladding that would hopefully work with our bricks as it seems to work with their sandstone - maybe dune colourbond?)

We recently updated an apartment to sell and got great feedback from the buyers on the paint - Dulux 1/4 Lexicon low sheen on walls and Vivid White high gloss on doors, picture rails and trims.

Your brick is very dark, have you decided on your mortar colour? I would consider matching your cladding colour to your mortar colour if you are using a light coloured mortar. So much depends on the design and style of your home. I would probably avoid matching the brick colour as you will need a good contrast, so don't go with Monument or Domino! It is impossible to tell without knowing what your house looks like. Have you considered engaging a colour consultant as it is a big decision and there are over 4000 Dulux colours available. Best of luck Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls and Dr Retro Virtual Visits