If you are planning to move in a few years, leave the decision whether to paint the bricks to the next owner - they may not wish to have the regular job of re-painting! The awnings , as already mentioned, may be there for a very good reason - wait until mid summer before you decide to ditch them totally, it would be good to get them working properly again to get the sunshine into the house in winter . Central West NSW is a hard place for plants - hot and dry in summer, frosty in winter. Chinese Star Jasmine is an excellent choice along the side fence, but will need watering when young, especially if that fence is exposed to sunlight the whole day in summer. It will grow and become quite heavy, make sure the fence is up to it. You could plant some deciduous trees in the front lawn to give shade in summer to those front windows - crepe myrtles are tough enough, Chinese pistachios are good - anything will need watering to establish, but once they are growing well you can gradually toughen them up by decreasing the watering; the deciduous trees will lose their leaves in winter and still let the sunlight come pouring in to the house. Grass will struggle under their branches once the trees start to spread, so plan to create garden beds underneath them early on. You could underplant with bulbs - tulips will love the cold winter, daffodils and jonquils will love the winter sunshine when the leaves are bare. You will need to know the path of the sun in midsummer and in midwinter to work out the best position for trees, so take pictures of where the sunlight and shadows fall in the different seasons to refer back to when planting. Roses also love a hot dry climate, but you may not wish to get involved with rose pruning and thorns etc! Talk to your local nursery person, they will be able to give you good local advice and recommendations - if you have an idea of what you need the front to do that will help - do you need lawn for kids , are you happy to kiss the lawn goodbye etc. Wander around your neighbourhood in the different seasons, and if you see something that catches your eye, either talk to the house owner or take a picture and visit the nursery again! Most people are thrilled to be asked questions about their garden, and will prove to be mines of useful information. See if there are any open gardens open to the public in spring / summer - these are often really spectacular, and the grand country gardens are wonderful for ideas , which can be modified for a smaller area and budget.

Because of the heat, you should not use dark colours on walls or roof. regarding painting of brick. Brick is an almost no maintenance cladding. When you paint it you've set yourself up for a big chore every 7 (on the west) to 10 years. Secondly, if you still want to paint it, you need to use special brick paint, or natural limewash. Bricks and mortar need to breathe. If they can't, you can have structural problems down the track. theres lots of information about limewash on the Internet.

We had the same problem. I ddidn't like our colour brick. So I purchased lime wash paint from PROTERS paints. You need to dilute the lime paint with water. they'll give instructions. Then I did the whole house. You need to go lightly on the brush. I have attached some photos for your benefit. You will see the before and after shots. I hardly put any paint on every 2nd brick around windows to give it the old look. out the back, I even painted a lge pot and the concrete slabs and transformed into a Water feature. You have to really work lightly with your paint brush so it gives it the lime wash look. You can pick any colour you choose. Hope it helps. I am 64, and honestly it didn't take long to do whole house. You need to house it down to remove dust and cobwebs. good luck

Ahhhh (sigh) yes...... wouldn't that be great Arcke - a conversation about the true benefits and value of professional design..........one of the biggest challenges I think (we as) designers have is when design is done well, it looks so simple and effortless, that it can be mistaken that it's easy to do.......when in fact (as you know) that underlying the (as you said) "illusion of simplicity", is a deep and complex balancing process that ultimately takes years, arguably a lifetime to properly master........ Wai's house here is a remarkable opportunity (frustrating to look onto from our position) as it (dare I say relatively easily!) could be cleaned up to be a stunningly elegant residence of simplicity, with a far superior living experience and consequently a much more valuable piece of real estate long term......but it requires a seasoned design Pro at the helm who understands this type of architectural language, form and the relationship of human scale to deliver it, not just a drafty who has been directed what walls to draw up by the owner and just slaps a hip form over it all.....