As others have said, it depends on your environment and view. If the house is located in a particularly hostile environment (e.g. west coast Tasmania, central Australian desert) or experiences wild swings between the seasons (e.g. Snowy Mountains) then windows are your friend. In temperate / sub tropical areas like Brisbane then verandahs are the way to go. Windows can have great thermal properties IF they're double glazed which has better insulation properties than say walls in a QLDer house with a timber stud frame sandwiched between weatherboards and VJs. It also depends on the orientation of the house.

FINALLY after too long, have completed one of the upper cedar wall replacements (& the most needed)... still debating colours. Altho I was set on the cedarshield natural cedar oil product, everyone is pushing paint due to longevity... because we missmatched old with new boards on verandah section, don’t think cedarshield would bring out same colour evenly unless a lot of time trying to ‘clean’ the old boards top layer. SO, back to colours. Thoughts? Light and beachy/modern is attractive but don’t think it’d suit the simple timber cottage look it has had for so long. Thinking dark trim with lighter weatherboards?

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subject to accurate door and window location and the age range of those using the space my suggestions include a narrow divan bed with storage drawers (extra bedding, seasonal clothes etc) and for a reading corner and extra bed, dining table, shallow low bookshelves (screwed to the wall) for toys books and games, a single small lounge chair (one or a stack of chairs that can do double duty on the deck or extra dining chairs) a corner wall with hat and coat racks, a gallery wall to create a view from the living area and empty floor space for kids' games or to erect a folding table for seasonal crowds and consider a chalk board on the inside wall for spontaneous artwork, keeping score, shopping lists and leaving instruction..i was planning to suggest indoor plants but only if the house is not left vacant for extended periods of time