Thanks for all your entries. And those are some marvellous photos of your own spaces being changed. Our congratulations to @how2girl who was randomly selected as the winner of Darren Palmer's book! We will be in contact and send this book out to you very soon. Stay tuned for more contests in the near future. HouzzAU Team

It is getting a bit dated in the colour scheme , BUT I'd keep it substantially as it is , with that yellowy beige . Grey is trendy , but it doesn't suit the bricks , you shouldn't paint the bricks , and it will be dated in 10 years anyway . The 2 upstairs windows look substantial , because of the shutters , whereas IMO the lower smaller windows looks plain by comparison , so I would add narrow shutters . I can't make out the exact colour of the other shutters , I think it is green , but I'd go a slightly greeny/charcoal , and do all the shutters in that , but I'd also do that downstairs door too -- at least I would if it is white , not glass with net curtains , and I'm not sure which it is ? I'd also do the garage door in that darker greeny/charcoal too , and the gutters . While on that colour scheme , I'd do a wooden fence by the rubbish bins too , and obviously paint/stain in that dark shade too . And carrying on , I'd do the steel gates on the left the same . All the block fences I'd go for an off-white , just to differentiate it from the house . The last bit of painting I'd do is the actual front door , and I'd second HU's bright and happy colours -- bright red or orange or yellow , maybe a modern blue or green . The downstairs door area looks like it is paved right to the door , so I'd do 4 or 5 small low colourful pots , with plants , about where that pillar is a metre or so out from the wall -- basically , the edge of the overhang . I'd get pots in a similar colour to the 'other' ( main ) front door . This slightly colourful line , combined with the darker door , should make the main door that much more obvious . The rest is landscaping obviously , and a letterbox .

Update on this. We have decided to keep upstairs unchanged in terms of layout. We will live in the house for a period before making any layout changes upstairs - 2 Bedrooms will be for our girls, while our son will sleep downstairs in the living room (now bedroom) as this was seldom going to be used. Now we are looking at the kitchen design - photos attached of current kitchen which will be completely refreshed along with the tiling in the kitchen / living area. Looking for any ideas on how to best update the kitchen - notice under the stair case is not currently being utilised but we would like to perhaps have the fridge or pantry under the stairs to include this dead space. From the kitchen window to the stair case is 4950mm x 3200mm approximately depth of the current kitchen. The stair case hangs into the kitchen around 750-800mm. Wondering if it would look silly to have perhaps the fridge built here and this cabinetry would sit proud of the bench space next to it, but we could also install deeper bench space to balance the look... We are planning to have the eye-saw built in fridge space currently in the kitchen removed altogether.

Hi Lauren, I agree with the idea of a gate/portico structure between the two buildings and this should come out proud of the two wall lines at present to create some impact. Also, large planters can add some character to the entry as long as they remain well watered but don't resort to fake plants if your not interested in watering or an irrigation system. Succulents, cactii or other drought tolerant plants will work if this suits your needs better. For colours, I would down play the white or off white features you currently have in terms of the garage doors, gutters and downpipes and even the soffits. Grey will work well with the brick and make it a mid grey so it is a similar tone to the brick so it doesn't stand out or you could go with charcoal too, which will modernise the whole look. You can then add some colour to the new gate in the protico to be the main focus. Is your roof blue or grey? I can't quite make it out in the photo. If it is blue then stick with a blue for the gate but it could be brighter than the roof but make sure the hues do not clash. If the roof is grey and you paint the other trims in grey as I suggested above, you are almost limitless of the feature coloure of the new gate. It could even be black. It depends on the style you end up with and the material. Also, if it is not protected from the direct sun, be careful how dark you go as it may peal with the heat. You could make the gate a timber feature as contrast in cedar or go for an antique 'moroccan' style door/gate!! The options are endless. Try to hide the dowpipes with the portico structure but don't make them inaccessible for maintenance. Also maybe do the portico in steel or something pretty modern and tie it in with one side wall, probably the house and not the garage. See image attached for some inspiration. Its a bit tricky with the hip roof overhang structure as I presume you don't want the expense of re doing that for the new entry so either have the portico below the eaves, be careful it is not too low, or if you can, put it at the same height in front of it so it hides it. Hope that helps and gives food for thought. C:)