At this stage I would just keep attacking on the path your on. I think that right now the brick is too much but when you start to add detail, like plants, furniture, you will be happy you did nothing. You can always decide later.

I really loved this brick when we found it and I still do, but I do have some comments about it. Unfortunately my design brief for a "fireplace hearth" in my farmhouse for my firebox turned out much bigger than expected, but that's another story. As far as the San Selma smoked cloudy silver brick is concerned the brick layer didn't like it much. It was a bit crumbly for him. There are even a couple of cracks already inside the brick hearth. We will have to be careful when securing our mantle piece to it. I don't know that I would do a whole house in this brick. As far as the look of the brick I love it. Its earthy, and suited my farmhouse profile inside and out. It does matter what colour the grout it. It really matters. I wasn't too happy with the grout choice by the bricklayer and should have taken more care to think about it. It's darker than I wanted. Take the time to work out what grout looks best. The same as you would pick a paint colour. We also struggled to choose a colorbond roof colour for where the outside of the brick was seen. We chose Windspray. Doesn't match perfectly as windspray is more yellow/green undertones....(something we are learning as we go along) but it's only a small area seen and hopefully we will find a paint to blend it all together.

i painted my cedar walled lounge room . you can find the after and before pics under ”ugly brick fireplace” and is a quick makeover idea. you could find someone to render the brick wall like i did with my fireplace , if you want to lighten up the brick wall. hope it all turns out well for you.

A clearer description on what I suggested above but with the dark paint and brick colour 1) Surf Mist Roof 2) Surf Mist Gutters, Barge boards, down pipes, Garage Door 3) Surf Mist upper walls and upper part of ground floor with Surf Mist Windows 4) Bricks , Recycled Red Bricks (Austral) 5) Darker Lower colour Dune, or Jasper with matching windows 6) Front door Timber Choosing colours is a very difficult job, most people know what they like if they can see it, so visiting LOTS of display homes will help you, cheers