The charring of wood as a method of preservation is nothing new and was known to European and Mediterranean builders as well as Asians. I have for years charred the bases of deck posts and such as a rot preventative. The practice is mentioned in John Fitchen's classic book Building Construction Before Mechanization. Some of the samples of this shown above are a bit crude. The most beautiful finishes of this type are rather labor intensive as some of the char can be brushed back off to some extent to reveal wood grain. The planter shown below has been coated on the interior with linseed oil, blackjack and turpentine and then set alight with a roofer's torch. The finish is cooked into the wood producing a carbonized insect and decay resistant surface. It gets filled with soil and so the char will be seen only at the edges.

I reckon you should go for a bright colour rather than the greys. Greys can look a bit boring after a while. Mainly due to their popularity as every second house I see is grey and just about every house I design the owner wants grey..... A client recently used 'Vanessa May' with Monument roof, facias, etc. and windows. The architraves in white. 'Vanessa May' is a mid violet and I got to say it look's bloody great! It's a similar size cottage as yours as well. My last client is using Dulux 'Pink Poppy' on their renovation and addition! However the job I started today has already been specified with a combination of greys...... That green you have is a great start.

Hi, firstly congratulations on your decision to renovate. How exciting. We are nearing the end of a major renovation and choosing the exterior colours was a real sticking point. Most of the houses around us were built in the 1990's and my renovation had the potential to not quite fit in. I had to use a timber cladding to match the existing cedar but the original had been poorly stained and I was never going to get a cohesive match between old and new. I was left pondering my choices. The solution was to paint both but what colour? In the end, I looked at what of the existing was going to be left unchanged. It turned out to be the Karaka Green window frames - not my favourite colour - but in order to work with it I had to pray I didn't offend the neighbourhood. I didn't want the old dirty brown shade and a thousand testpots later, left me with only one really obvious answer. As you can see from the photo, I chose [quite radically] to paint the entire extention in Half Karaka green. It's still a work in progress and in the coming weeks, the rest of the house will be painted to match. I waited for the neighbours - particularly, the old people from the Rest Home at the end of the street - to tell me off for my choice but have been blown away by their reactions. Every last comment has been a major thumbs up. Even the painter - who was highly skeptical - apologised for his doubt, Don't automatically assume your neighbours are going to hate seeing the changes you are about to bring to the area. Which brings me to your planned renovations. I am assuming that your window frames are also going to remain the white colour in the photo. Rather than get all confused about greys etc. Start with them as the basis for the rest of the house and work out from there. If you do that, then I don't think it will be as difficult as it currently seems for you to pick what the rest of the house will be. Don't be afraid to spend money on purchasing test pots. They are around $4 or $5 each and I believe that I probably spent $200. It was worth every penny to me to get a few small off cuts of cedar painted and sit and look at them alongside the existing windows in order to make an informed decision. Good luck. I look forward to seeing some finished photos. I hope to post my finished renovation photos here soon.

Personally , I thought my idea was easy -- get some galvanised flat bar ( 30mm x 5mm or similar ) , measure across each window hole ( at a guess maybe 600mm ? ) , get an engineering company to bend the flat bar so its say 650mm across , then goes 'in' 20mm , then another 70mm of flat back out at 90 degrees again . Do 6 or 9 of these , even 12 . Drill holes on the outside ends to take masonary screws . Drill holes across the centre at required distance ( say 120mm if using 60mm x 60mm battens ) . Spray these steel bits with a black spray can . Then either attach the supports to the wall . then add the battens ( a bit more difficult as you want to attach these from behind ) , OR attach the battens then get a couple of people , lift the entire 'structures' and then screw to the wall . A couple of days including letting the paint dry .