I had my house rendered last year. To decide on colour, I first drove around looking at rendered houses, to get a feel for the colours & tones I preferred. Then I used the "Paint Your House" program on the Dulux website. You can either look at their various "stock" houses, or upload a photo of your OWN house. Then, using their colour selector & painting program, you virtually "paint" your house, so you can see what it will look like when done. Once I'd narrowed it down to a couple of colours, I got sample pots in full-tint, half-tint, and quarter-tint. Painted sheets of papers with them, and stuck to outside house, so I could see what the wall colour would look like during various times of day / sun vs shade /etc. It was a bit stressful worrying how it would look when finished (since I went a deep ocher gold), but I'm thrilled with the result.

Hi Sophia, I think a dark grey with a hint of mauve would look spectacular and keep the whole home looking cool. What's more, when your garden and trees grow, the greens will complement the colour. Then a touch of red in plantings of kangaroo paw, bottle brush or hibiscus or even a flame tree would make the neighbours applaud your colour choices for sure. Check out Dulux's Colour Wall palette under Greys for tones like Yarwood, Otto's Boy and Babbler http://www.dulux.com.au/colour/colour-wall

I'm personally not a fan of tile - very hard on the feet, I find - so I'd probably restrict tile to the wet areas and go for hardwood everywhere else. Our last home had wood in every room except the bathroom, and after 10 years it still looked fine. Even the kitchen looked good. That said, we didn't have kids running around in the house. Did (and still do) have a dog, though. Our current house has carpeting in the bedrooms, engineered wood in the living areas, and tile in the bathrooms and laundry. All three floor coverings have a similar greigish tone, so to my mind they look fine together, and meet the practicality and comfort criteria as well.

I wouldn’t render. I don’t think you need to. The pillar colour is the odd colour but I’d leave it for the time being. I’d put the money and effort into the landscaping inc a mature tree or two. If you’re still unhappy after the garden is in then rethink painting the pillar and adding render.