Hi, I like the overall concept of the darkish grey, it suits the home. I am a colour consultant and have been working with the Dulux range for 17 years and you are on the right track with the Guild Grey. The Dulux Signature will give you a dark blue house. Another option if Simone Weil which is just a bit lighter than the Guild Grey, if you find that one too dark. Sample pots and A4 brush outs onto white cardboard are the best way to decide, because computer programs give an overall impression of the "look" but are not accurate with colour choices, you can't beat the human eye. All the best, it's going to look great.

Oh I've just realised you have made a decision. I would have said surf mist. We renovated with hardiplank on second storey but painted the whole house the same colour. Some passers by thought it was a whole new house. To me (just my opinion) when you start doing contrasts and different colours it screams Reno.

I love this house - it's got so much potential for "wow" with a small budget, depending on the materials you use and if you're prepared to do all/part of the work yourselves. A trip to your local hardware store will help you get costings and work out what you feel able to do yourself and where you're going to employ experts. If the pergola is council approved, I'd keep it, extend a deck (eco wood is easy to use for a beginner handyperson) where the pergola is. I'd add a louvered roof over it so that you have a living space (I'd use specialists for this), and a way of keeping hot summer sun off the front of the house. As it looks like you've got a metal roof, I'd think about painting it, the house trim and the garage doors the same colour to give your home a sense of cohesiveness and keep the exterior walls white as it looks fresh, doesn't date and is in keeping with the style and period of your home. Refreshing the front garden beds will make a huge difference too.

There are so many variables , but I'll just throw a few ideas . Really , you'd need to know yojur personalities and tastes , the houses in your suburb , your budget and what you want to achieve , whether you want to live there for 20 years or sell in 8 , and 1000 other questions . To me , the roof looks great , and it looks like the fences are stained charcoal . So thats a great starting point , but it also means its difficult to go mid-century or beach chic . I'd keep away from greys or beiges , but keep it light -- I just looked at Dulux Australia , and if you want to go 'interesting' , something like Lexicon Half or My Chincilla are subtle but not too shy -- My Chincilla looks like a grey with a slight purple tinge ! Either of those two I'd do stark white window surrounds , and probably white aluminium windows , but then charcoal powdercoating would actually be great IMO , and add a bit of Wow . Obviously whites and offwhites are more logical , but then you'd pretty much have to go with black or charcoal windows , and white or off-white surrounds . BUT if you did that , heres what I would do -- that front eve and the 3 'tall' windows ( yes I know the glass is only about 1/3rd of the frame ) I would do in a light teal , and then continue that to the wrought iron , and then a really bright but not fluro teal for the front door . Now , you may continue the light teal onto other window surrounds ( personally , I'd do the ones on the veranda in stark white , and the 'rear side' one in light teal ) , and all the 'other lower stuff' you can see , like the terrace boards , the bottom 100-150mm across the front , etc ) in charcoal to visually 'ground' the house . From there , a narrow , low stone and rock garden across the front of your house would make it look a lot better , with a few grasses and cactuses and low leafy bushes and red leaved bushes etc . One other idea -- those front windows aren't too bad ( although you say high maintanence ) so if replacing them , maybe cover them with 12-15 vertical wooden battens -- I'd do nicely varnished natural timber 50mm square and around 2 1/2 metres tall each . They will add a natural wood look , add a bit of privacy , a bit of interest , without cutting out all the light . Obviously , that is a pretty budget once-over-lightly idea , but it will change the whole look and feel of your place for maybe $5k materials , whatever labour costs ( $10k ? ) and whatever windows cost .