i love this home. stunning but if you want to detract from the red i would add something on the stairs like sandstone or paint in white as then the stairs are an amazing feature that the eye will zone in on rather than simply zoning in on the red. Design is thinking outside the box. Ask yourself why you hate it and then think of some reasons to change and it may be that you feel it is just to bold and a solution would be to give another focal area

Thanks for your thoughts, they have helped us with our decision. We're now planning on using the barramundi roof tile (it's a grey, a bit softer than the soho nights black. And not so shiny) with matching gutter and fascia. And the cladding in paperbark. I was thinking cream windows instead of the timber, so there's some lighter colours on the brick downstairs to tie it to the top. We can't match it exactly to the paperbark cladding because we aren't using aluminium windows, but I'm hoping the cream (which is supposed to be more of an off-white with this manufacturer) will look okay in the clad dormers upstairs. Fingers crossed!

Hi oklouise, thank you also for your excellent ideas. We like the idea of the window seat, but in the first instance we will try removing the existing gable end and exposing the overhanging eaves as you suggested. We saw this sort of thing on some old houses in Orange (NSW) last weekend and really liked it, so it is uncanny that you suggested it. Do you think we could get away with a gable vent to make a bit of a statement, or do you think that might be a bit fussy? Regarding the roof, we are considering Shale Grey as it is light (and therefore will absorb less heat), and it it the Colorbond colour that supposedly most resembles old zincalume. However, we are still trying to work out if this works the best with our brick colour. Again, thank you for your advice !

Suggest rather than hanging g plants that you plant climbers eg a grapevine or bougainvillea into a half wine barrel or into other large pots or elsebreak up the concrete around the car port posts so plant a climber. A pandorea would be nice.Re earlier comment : forget nasturtiums unless for pots of annual colour as they are short living annuals only. You need sturdy perennial climbers to grow over and around the car port to soften it. Replace the white balustrade with something modern and place some lArge modern pot plants with large greenery on the balcony also to soften it. I would suggest a warm cream in place of the stark white to blend with the red brick. They greys and charcoals eg monument are verycookie cutter and a current trend that we are all heartily sick of. Using them will date the house very quickly.