I've seen lots of vibrantly coloured craftsman bungalows that look great, also some rather outlandish victorian houses! I've seen some awesome hot pink and black victorians! Do a search both on houzz and google. The amount of trim and detail really works to show off a more dramatic colour combination. You even have the wrought iron fence which could look amazing painted maybe a gold or metallic colour! Check out a flickr stream called the daily bungalow for some great inspiration, they have other albums worth a look too, but this one shows some more creative colour schemes. Based on the photos I have seen you would be better picking the darker colour for the walls and a brighter colour for the trim. https://www.flickr.com/photos/daily-bungalow/sets/72157616179338294 https://www.flickr.com/photos/daily-bungalow/sets/72157635350209034

Hi Sarah, hope you enjoyed your travels last night, that's something we have spent our lives doing plus living in different countries. Do look into the attic room/s they are lovely and the Velux skylights very unobtrusive, look great and if positioned correctly take care of venting any hot air, as I mentioned ours were pivoting ones and could be locked open in several positions. I much prefer these to dormer windows, you don't really notice them. The stairs were built off site and lifted into position and installed, built in. At the time we did ours a very good friend a builder did the same but just completely opened the whole ceiling space right out towards the gutters into a large bedroom play study area for his daughters, also using Velux windows. Glass ceilings, like Velux windows have been around for years, believe me I know, we're both getting older. Velux windows can be used as glass ceilings in opening and non opening configurations. I would love to see you keep the outdoor loo as well and updating the old shed into a new connecting space to the house, perhaps a glass breezeway. I will have another look at your plan again over the weekend. I love your front iron gate as well, auto sliding driveway gates work really well and would really fit with your carport. My brother in law put in a tall timber sliding gate at his last home, lovely cheers

would love to see photos of the house but you've posted on an Australian website and we may have different products than you need

The colours will be important -- do you have them picked ? What I like -- the scrollwork or whatever it is called around the top -- adds a bit of character . What I don't like -- the rest haha . Actually , it does have potential , and I quite like the railing -- simple but not too basic . I'd do a ( probably fake ) octagonal vent fitting in the middle of the roof gable . What I wouldn't do is any sort of veranda or awning -- tempting to , BUT it would look 'strange' with the fact that the gable goes left to right , whereas anything else will slope towards the 'front' . I would paint in off-white , maybe even an English Cream , even towards a mushroomy shade . And then do the rails , the scrolls , the gutters , the bargeboard , the new fake vent in a charcoal , even a greeny/charcoal mix . The railing , in particular , will stand out and add that depth . Then I'd add a couple of large , reasonably colourful pots between the 2 doors , to disguise the 'blandness' there -- maybe one that is 60-80cm wide and as tall , with a 1.5metre plant , the other say 30-40cm with several 30cm tall plants , for variety and 'interest' . The present wall colour is a bit too buttery for me , and the green was too 80's , so an update with a couple of 'features' will really boost things . Of course , you could spend $50k or $250k and do all sorts , but I am thinking closer to $1k plus paint and labour .