Great to hear that you have decided not to paint the brickwork. Can I offer my opinion - I'd suggest painting the garage door and surrounding frame and the adjacent beam and column (currently white) in a dark charcoal/brown to match the ground floor brickwork try Dulux Namandji or Mali. I would redo the retaining wall with large boulders in a more freestyle layout than the current straight line and take up some of the concrete drive near the retaining wall to create a garden on the lower level, curved to still provide access to all of the undercroft unless you wish to enclose part of it with a large full height window. I'd love to see the wrought iron balustrade painted black. My home in the mid sixties had salmon coloured bricks, white window frames and fabulous turquoise gutters! The downpipes were painted to match the bricks thankfully - turquoise might have been a bit over the top! Good luck with your project, would love to see your progress. W

Hi, we had the charcoal next gen decking installed 6 months ago for similar reasons - fully exposed deck, no time to maintain. Went with charcoal after much debate as we didn’t want it to look like fake wood but rather something different and modern. We’re happy with the outcome

I agree with the above statement but if you were to pick grey to go with it don't make it too dark you can add options of the emerald green on a lighter grey sofa in those colours of emerald green to tie it all together with cushions and throws I feel the sofa you already have is beautiful and should be focal point with the other taking a lesser focal but as stated tie it all together with that beautiful emerald green as accessories but don't over do it less is more so to speak take photos to show the people you want to buy another sofa from or even a swatch of the material. If you intend to buy a rug try for the lighter grey with hints of the emerald if you can find it, keep it soft and neutral but tie it in so that the whole area flows and looks classy, Good luck, PS some places let you pay for a rug and take it home to try and can return if it is not suitable so ask for that option.

We are turning an old modified colonial with deep wrap around verandas into a modern farmhouse. We love the recent colour scheme we've seen emerging on old colonials and queenslanders of fresh white exteriors and interiors which really contrast stained honey coloured timber doors and windows and let them stand out and sing. But we're trying to nail down specific paints for walls and trims that do it. Has anyone done a similar colour and got advice? Cheers, hive-mind!