looks like a style very popular in the 70's... check early Pettit and Seviitt for ideas but it would be a shame to contradict the original style too much ... spending on new paint to complement the bricks would be my choice...the favoured colour choice at the time was Mission Brown and maybe a darker grey brown (eg Dulux Nimadji for cladding and gutters with a new pale coloured roof like Colorbond Cove) would refresh the look without altering the style too much and keep the windows original, pressure wash the bricks and paint the downpipes to blend with the brick and enjoy your vintage home

A classic!!!! Agree with oklouise totally........

This is not a Pettit and Sevitt home, but the design may have been inspired by the homes they were building in the 1960's and 1970's. There is a "Pettit and Sevitt Owners and Friends Club" on Facebook that was established by Secret Design Studio and has around 700 members who share photos of their renovations and colour schemes.

Best of luck

Dr Retro
Dr Retro House Calls

If you could take down the brick fencing in front and lay a porch deck or slab, and a pathway up to the door with a few smaller shrubs/hedging either side, that would help open the front facade and take away the ‘low’ feeling of the pitch. You could perhaps even put thicker timber verandah posts in for more presence, depending on your final look? Perhaps paint the weatherboard back top story a colour that matches in with what you choose for trims. You may not need to paint the brick then? Or maybe repoint with a lighter colour to break up the heaviness a bit? Good luck! A revamp will look great, it’s got a lot of character!

Yes I think the bricks have to come down. It feels very closed in Doesn’t it.

Monument would look great on your roof and trims and blend in the solar panels as well. Your home has a style that lends itself to a very contemporary look and is really suited to the popular industrial colour palette of dk charcoal, off white/light grey and clay tones. I really like the colour of your bricks and with a clean they should come up really well and the colour will really pop against the monument roof/trims if you paint them this colour. If you keep the bricks then also painting your windows dark charcoal or black would look stunning. You could lighten and modernise the look further by adding a third colour - painting the weatherboards a complimenting neutral colour (such as a light grey or cream).

The front brick fence looks structurally fine and gives good privacy so you could just render/paint this and replace the plants with vertical timber slats + matching timber cedar gate to give it a modern look which would tie in with the house.

Thanks for your constructive feedback. Love the photos. Will definitely gurney the brick first and see how they scrub up.

I wanted more a contemporary coastal look but you’re right its very industrial. What could I change to make it more coastal than industrial?

The Monument may be too intense for a coastal look, maybe you could try going for a lighter mid grey instead like my 3rd image below? Alternatively try swapping the Monument grey for a very light colour like my 1st & 2nd images (such as light grey, cream or a taupe) and still painting the weatherboards a light colour, to soften the look and suggest more of a coastal feel - plus these light tones would also go beautifully with the exposed brick and work well with the timber you want to add.

Landscaping too can help determine the look of a house, you already have the tall palms so id work with these adding white pebbles, more lower growing palms and some tropical plants to give it a coastal feel.

I love everything EXCEPT the green barge boards . I assume you have a bright outgoing personality , to buy a place like this , so 2 options / suggestions --

-- Easiest would be to paint all the barge boards in a sunshine yellow , including the top of the carport . The carport uprights I would do in brown or charcoal . The veranda over the front door I would do in white and yellow stripes , the downpipes in yellow , and leave the reddish brown boarding upstairs as it is . Cheap and easy .

-- The alternative would be the same , except all the barge boards in a mid orange , the roof in a warm english cream , and the upstairs wood in the same cream , or bright red to stand out .

You can tell I'm not a fan of 2 variations of grey , and a charcoal , on a house like this , can't you ? It has a unique character , don't try and make it look like 50% of the new homes IMO .

I don't have a serious suggestion, except that I wouldn't go monument for any of it. I doubt it would enhance or blend with the bricks. Nor do I think it would look coastal. Look at some natural coastal colours and see if you could pinch some ideas that way.

Leave the bricks as they are. Get rid of the ugly palm trees. Pave the courtyard beautifully with strategic plantings and some really nice large pots. The brick walls give you a beautiful private courtyard which you don;t want to lose. If the roof is really faded then paint it otherwise leave it alone and concentrate on a beautiful entry courtyard

This is definitely not an industrial style house. If you want a coastal look, then I suggest using blues (or light grey/blue) and white for the exterior as suggested by Littlethommo. The palm trees should stay but more tropical plants need to be added to give it the coastal look.

Lovely! Did you use a semi gloss or Matt?