@kymryan..just having another look at your cladded house...Why do you want to remove the white cladding.? Apart from looking into recladding with colourbond as an option...or anything else....I think you might be wise to make sure of exactly what is under the present cladding...if you have not done that already. As cloudpants here says, your place has loads of potential and I am sure you would want it to be timeless so all you have to do is the maintenance. You mentioned that there are weatherboards under the cladding on your house. Do you know that for sure? Usually when they clad old weatherboard places the weatherboards are removed first because they cannot just be c;lad over. Check! Underneath your cladding you might have what I think was called ' wide chamferboards' or even a narrower kind used about 1950-60. These were PINE and the reason for cladding was usually because they were weather-worn or rotted. It might even be that there are no "boards" of any kind under that cladding...maybe fibro or cement sheeting.....or, if you are lucky...the house framework...onto which you can put any exterior cladding. I'd advise you to check this if you have not done so already. The tiles on the roof suggest to me that the original outside of the house may have been these pine boards or even the cement sheeting...but I think the former. I do not think that there would be the older style hardwood weatherboards under that cladding...the house is of the wrong era for those....it would need to be much older.. Another option...some of the really old weatherboard houses around here (in country Queensland) have been rendered using a very old system...All of these houses were on wooden stumps. Before they started they stabilised the stumps as I have described and then built in all around the sides of the underneath with bricks. They covered the house with insulating foil or tar paper then they covered that with chicken wire netting!!! Over that they simply applied a cement mixture and they trowelled it leaving swirls...a bit like the Mexican adobe. Then they painred it. Its a very old technique. It is materials cheap and labour intensive. If the old house on stumps inderneath shifts a little there's no problems with cracking of any kind....due to the cement, hand applied "render" having the (chicken) wire reinforcing bonded throughout with the cement. The finished house looks as if it is built of stone or concrete! ..The insulating properties are great. Its a very old system that lasts the test of time....the early Italians brought it in when this area was opened up for orchards, There's an old weatherboard house just opposite mine that was "rendered" in this manner about 50 years ago and it still looks new.....been pained occasionally of course. Recently its had a verandah added in keeping with the style of the house and they've "prettied up" the facade under the roof with some ornamenral work. You could research that I am sure...you might even find out "How To".

Yes I agree... definitely get rid of the blue, but keep the contrast... on the assumption that your windows and doors are black (or a close enough dark colour) I would suggest: - main walls/render: Dulux Silkwort (light grey, would look very light on that scale house) - gutters/fascia/downpipes: Colourbond Monument or Ironstone, creating an overall almost black & white look, and keep the garage door and roof panels in timber, as black/white/timber is all the rage at the moment. Why don't you have a dab yourself at different colours/materials, check out: http://www.digitaldecorator.com.au Good luck

Hi Deb, If this place were mine I would be going for a timeless Australian look to blend with your native and European plant choices that's durable for our climate. I would start with a portico built over the entry in hardwood with a colour bond pitched lined roof trim all the wood in white. Clad the walls with Hardies weather boards or flat planks, building a wide timber trim around the downstairs window to create a feature. I'd go with charcoal walls to compliment the white trim classic colours that will endure time. I'd clad the retaining walls all with a stacker stone tile that resembles old English mortar less stone walls. Some outdoor lights by Barnlighting Autralia are classics. If you want a cheap alternative creeper over the bricks, be aware that all vines will erode the mortar and attract spiders, yet my favourite creeper for this application would be "ficus pemula" it sits really flat and can be trained as a solid wall. Perfect for privacy. You could pave the entry path with "Millboards" wharf style boards so it looks like a beach path, they will never rot or need maintenance, otherwise you can use concrete moulded timber look planks. Some flax grasses to add to the coastal look. As for this upstairs Windows, what was the building designer thinking?.. There's a couple of choices, you can create one way visibility with white shutters inside or out, line the glass with sunblock film or have some exterior screens fitted outside with laser cuts screens, timber etc or replace the windows and create a more balanced frontal feature with higher rectangular windows. This cladding can take to a contemporary look, coastal look, bush style etc. the best feature of this cladding is the additional insulation and uniformity. Have fun

Hi dmitry1991, Have you considered a planter box on the first floor, slats, or even decorative privacy screens? As for the centre wall on the ground floor this could use a different material like stacked stone or even a polished plaster type material with the house number on it. Often times it doesn't take much to add a lot of spice to a simple facade.