I would take the shutters off and see how it looks. And yes to painting them if they are to go back up, paint the windows, the existing painted parts of the porch, gate and the gable all the same warm white colour. The fascia and gutter a warm grey like woodland grey. Some flowering plants will complete the brightening up. You can mKe the whole gable darker, say a 1/4 strength of gutter.

I'm interested in chatting with some people currently in the renovation market for research on a new platform that will tag paint types and colours and show you the closest property with that colour. If you are interested in looking at a prototype please email me at greg@whobuiltthat.com.au. Thanks.

Again , I'm different haha . I like the brick , but it is a bit much , so have something to distract and hide the wall a bit . A large colourful work of abstract art would be my go-to , or possibly a TV or two . It doesn't look like that room is orientated towards that wall , so presumably theres a TV elsewhere in the room , but why not add a couple of secondhand TVs , maybe a 42inch and a 32 , or even 3 -- 42 , 24 and 19 inch . Have 1 on the same channel as the ( presumably main ) other TV I'm assuming is already there , the other 1 or 2 on different channels . Seperate heights too , and obviously different sizes , so its sort of an art installation with moving pictures -- a couple of 2nd hand TV's probably well under $500 , even with wall brackets ; art whatever you spend ( $200 , $1000 , $135 million haha ) .

Go for it. You could always paint it black if you don’t like it. Have some fun