Don't demolish! The house looks like it has good bones and potential. You will just overcapitalise if u do the slate is back in vogue ATM , so if it's not obstructing entrance, leave The kitchen is good, leave as is and add ur own touches bathrooms- they Will Need updating, however, we really Need to see floor plan to look at How ur 'shower cupboard' can be utilised! does the bathroom have a separate bath and shower?and what are the rooms either side of this space? as ur family grows u Will realise How Space and Storage is a major necessity! Could this space be used to open up bathroom and have a large double shower? Or a walk in linen? Linen cupboard not far from bath is Always handy or walk in robe to an adjacent room? now people are recommending upgrading the driveway? but as a whole, the landscaping is the Main point! this doesn't mean u have to rip the whole thing out and start again, though There's a lot of products out there these days that can be used to recoat bricks, cement.. Etc.. So do ur research on costs of upgrading what u have before investing in anything expensive! gardens? Now a good Pest controller will tell u to Never build ur garden bed up against the house. This is due to moisture, which can over time affect the house.. And because of termites. You may be in a lower risk area but they're pretty much always around. So always leave about a metre of cement etc between house and garden, to be safe! Now, most importantly- any home renovator will tell you to actually Live in the house for about a year( to see all seasons) to see how the house functions. Note sun/ shade / light/ heating/cooling etc and it's impact upon the house's current aspect, comfort and presentation. This Will help with colour shades u want to choose and where u will need to add windows for light or awnings, solar panels etc. It will also help with the landscaping, for choosing plants and watering types, levels required to maintain them! hope all that helps somewhat?? best of luck!

Australia has nice examples of painted and rendered Art Deco homes. If it was a different kind of brick I would say keep it, but I think painting/rendering would really brighten the place. I love the windows. Although all pics here don't exactly match your style, they are all of that era. As mentioned in above comments, there are mix of landscaping styles that suit from conifer/gravel/grass to cottage rose garden to an Australian native garden. Do what reflects you and how much time you have for your garden.

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.

Thank you oklouise The house started out as a small single storey fibro house (left section). By the time we bought it, it had a 2 storey extension 6.2m w x 12.1m d added to the right side and the whole house was bricked over - leaving a strange stairwell on the side of the new extension (which we faux brick stamped 15+ years ago as it was bright white). There is a small step down to the front verandah but still good head height. The current garage doors are also quite high at 2.5m and would not need to be as high when replaced. So hoping the bulk head (if that is all we come up with) would be consistent / level across the front. That was just my first thought, but fresh eyes and fresh/other ideas are welcome!