Carleenimlach your fireplace is stunning. It is infact original in bungalow detailing, and the bricks are not painted. I know this treatment very well. They had a brick stain applied, which is a red oxide painted to give the appearance of an even red brick face, this was done when tuck pointing is applied to the mortar course. I can see yours was. It looks as though it was charcoal, also another Edwardian bungalow detail, and the lines accentuate the archway. The mantel itself is absolutely beautiful. I myself would restore the brickwork, and let this period detail return to being the heart of the home. The hearth bricks definitely need to go, in their place I would lay a single slab on stone, which is a little costly, but overall, is worth the expensive you save in defacing the brickwork anyway. I suggest a rough sawn bluestone slab that will further enhance the charcoal tuck pointing, and grey is not only a current interior colour, but it is also what edwardian bungalows often featured. So you get to have a current, updated interior whilst preserving the beauty and character of a period home. This is where the homes value lies.

Hi 2Find! Thanks for your cohesive little selection of images. I will replace the lights for sure (though I have a pet peeve re those lights where the bulb is visible as am quite light-sensitive, preferring diffuse light). There is no furniture in the room, we aren't living there till the reno-extension is done as it won't have a kitchen. I would like to keep a muted pastel colour scheme throughout the entire house. Kind of a nod to the 30's. Sorry, but I can't do brown tile, it's a visceral thing! Cheers for the lovely photos siriuskey (lovely star system). Very nice and I probably will go for a pretty simple 30's weatherboard cape cod type theme. The house is a raw looking 'ranch' style from the US, lucky we have so much lovely British weatherboard culture to draw from. I adore that hallway!

Your kitchen looks like it may be original with the house and has had a number of makeovers since it was built. It looks like a builders kitchen, and probably not the highest quality with hinges and runners starting to wear out at a guess. You can't apply a two-pack finish to old doors that have been painted (and repainted) before and expect a perfect finish. I wouldn't buy new doors and drawer fronts in such an old kitchen, but look at upgrading all of the knobs to handles and repainting to work with the materials and colours that you won't be changing, such as the benchtop and flooring. Many kitchens have a life span as things wear out and technology changes. All of the little jobs and upgrades that you have described will be fiddly and expensive due to the labour content. Don't waste too much of your money on upgrades to this old kitchen but save up for a new one. A well designed, new kitchen will make better use of the space, and be designed to give you the storage you need, and house the appliances that you want to make cooking a pleasure. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

May I suggest that you could quite quickly and affordably: 1 - paint the roller door and the white beam above it in Terrain - https://colorbond.com/colour/terrain - which will stop them drawing your eye. You may still want to put in a wooden roller door but you will get the effect quickly. 2 - replace the eyesore round light fitting at the same time with a modern one 3- left hand side - the next door dirty cream fence is also eye catching either put a fence and gate there to block it from view or just paint it a dark colour so it recedes and separates from the house. 4 - yes the roof either needs a good clean or a repaint 5 - yes the down pipe - can it be replaced by a chain style into the garden bed? Paint it dark anyway to stop it popping. It may be possible to drain it to the side gutters Love the railings - 5- the house isn’t sitting in its own space visually planting darker evergreens to left and right will help to settle it.