Hi JV, I think unless you are planning to do a huge facelift to the home, I would just embrace the retro feel rather than trying to mask it and have it looking too random and shoddy. I actually think the cream brick at the sides is quite cool, it looks in really good shape, I would definitely leave that! And the trellis, I just think you can't fight it as it's all the balustrade too. Replacing that with glass will just look like a 70s home with bad out of place glass added. I like your timber idea, though I'd just go a regular cladding rather than decking which will look... well like decking on the wall! Get a cladding (Even a Scyon style product), paint it a light charcoal (or even a dark olive/khaki colour) and it would look stylish, retro and actuallypretty cool as I'd expect from an IT guy. Add some plants (mother in laws tongue, a crassula, another succulent) in a few pots of varying heights (say 3), add a stylish outdoor light, maybe a plaque wiht your business name, a cool doormat, remove the screen door and I think it would look great. Look up mid century modern references, there's a lot. Even though it's not mid century, you could stretch to that. I think it would look far better than trying to mask what you've got and have it come off as looking really amateur.

I would not replace balustrade unless you want a glass one, but I would replace gutters to match your roof so either black or charcoal. Paint the window frames in the same colour and replace front door and remove hand rail in front of the door. If the garage door is in good condition repaint it in a lighter shade of grey. Awnings need update as well you could go for B&W stripes or black and grey, white and grey?? I am so glad you don’t want to paint the bricks. Maybe update outdoor lighting and add a large black pot with red geraniums or something flowering in front next to the front door.

I guess it depends on your budget . I'd tend to initially keep it 'simple' , and do the retaining posts in charcoal , or even a silvery grey . The trim I initially thought charcoal too , but your windows look like they may be white frames , or aluminium , so in that case stick with the white theme too , although the existing garage door/gates in mostly white is then too much white IMO , but you want to change that anyway . Because of the shape , the door is going to be custom -- I'd do a cedar panel type door , or possibly a single piece tilt door may close flush , but I suspect it won't . So clean lines , a clean look to the house , with a darker contrast in the retaining wall . If that doesn't look right , and/or you have a bigger budget , then a new retaining wall in concrete or blocks , with an off-white render , will look classy , but its mixing up eras and styles a bit too much for my liking -- next thing you'll want to square off the garage and all thge windows , and render the whole house . That would work , cost a lot , and look good -- but why ? Apart from the yellow , theres not too much wrong , so embrace it !

When I read the heading and the first few sentences , I thought OMG -- orange bricks and an orange terracota roof ! But yeah , I'd call that a blonde , with regrowth on top haha ! So its reasonably pleasant , but what to do ? Dark windows would look good , BUT even then , the overall design and even the window size all screams 80's , so you'd spend $20k or whatever to do the whole place with new windows , and it'll just be modernised 80's . And to expand on that , what Julie Herbert alluded to -- the gardens and fence look 80's too . The front fence also looks oranger than the house too -- are they exactly the same as the house , or newer and/or oranger ? One possible 'tie-in' would be some long and low panels of Coloursteel where the rails are ( basically , keep the bricks on the fence , just do in-fill panels in Coloursteel , only going the same height as the pillars ) . The roof looks a charcoal , so I'd stick with that in coloursteel for the roof , IF GOING IN THAT DIRECTION . Why I say that is because I actually think the roof would look okay if you added some mid grey terracotta tiles -- go for a speckled look . Those light grey ones would look too harsh a contrast IMO , but go go mid grey and the existing charcoal would look 'interesting' IMO , it may be cheaper than a full coloursteel roof ( you'd want to check the labour cost though ) , and if say 80% of the existing tiles can be re-used , its probably better both cost but also waste wise ? And that leaves the brown -- obviously , go charcoal there too , along with more modern plants and garden design . And while some people criticise me , because I often say do a 'sunny' ( bright red , yellow or orange ) front door , not only will it look better , it changes peoples focus , so the less attractive features aren't noticed as much -- whether passer-bys love or loath the bright front door -- they'll look at it and comment , rather than noting the brown base or orangey fence bricks .