Hi Alisdair! If you're keeping the brick and roof as are then I'd pick a colour from the brick. If my monitor is right, then I think I see a kind of purply-brown or Sydney 'liver' brick in the darker bricks. Are you brave enough for a bit of aubergine on the fascia and window frames to pick up on that? I'd stick with a pale pale tan under the eaves, taken from the brick colour, to better bounce light around. Also, your front door is pretty recessed and could probably do with a pick me up. If you're game, bright green. If that's too far, then the pale tan out of the bricks. Good luck!

Decided on carrara marble 300x600 tiles and honed nero and carrera for the shower floor. Floor to ceiling for the shower and up to the 1300 from the floor and painting the rest. 1. What colour fittings best suit carrara marble and keeps the transitional victorian theme? 2. The 3.24 wall has plasterboard over exposed brick. Do you think it would look nice if I took the plasterboard off and left that part exposed brick? Any Response Appreciated!!

It's (as always) about balancing the elements.......you can have a timber overload, but you can always counter/balance/freshen up with other contrasting aspects......It's easy to paint out character, harder to put it back if you make a mistake/wrong decision. Below is one of our contemporary projects that features both cedar window frames and cedar ceilings. The owners also had what i'd describe as more traditional styled "homely" furniture rather than super edgy contemporary pieces. It's not right or wrong with this stuff. Rather than try to find the answers from looking at examples from other side of the world online with google or pinterest, perhaps re-focus on what you have in front of you, asking what are the unique/special aspects about your home that are of value, and then build the decisions of what to do and what not to do around the prioritising of the elements. It's easy to standardise finishes with paint or herringbone pattern or whatever is the latest fad, harder though to achieve sympathetic timeless results marrying together elements of yesteryear, last century and contemporary living. It can be a fine line between getting it right, going too far, or not doing enough or completely stuffing it up, which is why potentially you may be best to seek some professional guidance and advice from a designer with an experienced eye (such as the service offered above by Dr Retro)..... PD :) www.pauldistefanodesign.com

To me it looks like the wood has been sanded back and finished with a tinted wax but I can’t discount the pictures being edited to remove the orange tone or showing up different on the screen. Are you sure the downstairs floor is hardwood? I would find a spot that you could do a few test sands and stain/wax tests.