Great advice from oklouise, landscaping will make a huge difference, strappy plants will add a sculptural look use stone mulch and gravel paths to give a seaside look, , buying smaller plants will help with the budget and they grow quickly , plant a few trees to add height and balance, silver foliage plants look fabulous with grasses and a few clipped shrubs adds a really stylish look.

as usual Julie has the perfect advice for your new front garden

Yes yes yes! Thank you oklouise and Julie Herbert. Strappy vegetation is exactly what we need! We’ve actually planted some trees since this photo and some of the existing vegetation has grown so we’ve got varying levels of height. I think we’ll focus on the garden first.
oklouise, I’m so happy you suggested not painting the brick. Often the first advice for our dated 90s brick and tile is to render and replace roof tiles with colorbond. While I’m sure this would be a great makeover this is out of our budget but we’d prefer to avoid the associated maintenance requirements... plus we’ve grown quite fond of our textured brick. I love your colour suggestions for eaves, fascia gutter! You mention add-on gable decorations... Anything particular in mind? What do you think of our existing spire? Should we ditch it?

I tend to agree with others that landscaping will make a big difference but this after shot
may inspire, they used cladding. The second shot is the before and thete is a houzz story about it.

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i have an original 1950's rendered house that needs regular repainting and shows every splash of garden dirt and bird poop and prefer the minimal maintenance of your bricks...i would "ditch" all the unnecessary decoration including the spire for a house that would look much better at it's most streamlined...but, roof tiles don't last forever and i would obtain quotes for having the roof cleaned and repointed OR replaced with Colourbond steel (light beige colour?) and new roof insulation and plan to change the roofing if/when the tiles are nearing their worthwhile lifespan ...rendering and painting the whole house which imo is unnecessary ($10,000-$20,000+?) would be money much better spent on updating the roof and in the meantime you can focus on a gorgeous garden that can be done in stages

Wow JE C, what a transformation! Thanks for sharing. I wonder if the vertical cladding would look good at the front on our house?... Maybe lose the spire and add the vertical cladding in the top section under the eaves (see pic)....? might tie in nicely with a small bathroom extension we’re doing out the back with vertical cladding...

Perhaps vertically cladding under the eaves?

That looks great.

good quality tiles can be gorgeous but always best to make decisions based on facts..a roofing company should be able to quote for tiles or Colorbond including any structural repairs and insulation and advise advantages of both choices

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This is also from Houzz and has some similar lines to your house , may also give some inspiration.

love the vertical cladding....what it called and was it an inexpensive option?

Hi yecats_h, I saw some people suggested cladding and I think it would be a very nice touch and would bring your house features up. Plants and a lush lawn would be a plus as well. There are a few things you can do to maintain your lawn that won't cost you any money like aerating it or tinkering with your watering and make it drought resistant so it develop deeper roots (you can view some advice here). A fresh coat of paint, a new garage door, a more modern letter box and an exposed aggregate driveway and entrance if it hasn't been redone since the 90s would probably clean it up.

is it possible to glue plaster boards into internal asbestos walls n ceiling?

I've just recently updated the facade of my own home including the front door - you might find this article useful, there's a few factors it mentions that can make a big difference.

You might want to consider concreting services for your footpaths to make it better.