This is the front of the house - we want to give it more depth and interest from the front so it's not so flat. We need more storage so we're looking at building a garage off the front, not looking at rendering or painting the brick out at this stage.

We have just bought a house with this exact brick work, and mission brown on all the window frames. We have considered bagged brick but not made any decisions, I’m looking forward to seeing what you guys do to liven it up a bit without covering it up. Good luck!

Where is the front door? I would change the balustrade to glass panels which will open up the verandah depth perception. Personally I would square off the garage door brickwork too. Can you post a floor plan so we can see what the windows serve? And a straight on photo

I don't like the slightly blue tinged grey 'highlights' with the brown brick .

The white 'cross' almost looks like one on a stylised 80's church , but you see how much lighter that area looks . So my step one would be quite simple -- do the other windows in white ( even if its initially in white tape over what I assume is powdercoat ? ) . Then the garage door looks too small , and dated , so I'd disguise that with an almost fake pergola , protruding mayeb a metre out the front , and 60-80cm wider and taller than the garage door opening , and painted that vivid white too .

Brown and white -- boring and simple , but that would be the 'base' to work from , and cost under $5k .

Step 2 would be more difficult haha , but that would be my step 1 .

Kate - front door is actually around the side, basically just behind the chimney brickwork, it's quite odd. Down the track we'd consider making an entry of that front window that faces the street. We also don't like the arches, if we end up building a garage off the front that will cover that but if not agree it definitely needs squaring off. I'll take a front on photo.

Hi Pottsy, it does have a blue tinge to the grey so we'll probably need to address that at some stage. We agree about the white on the front verandah, we were considering the wire ballustrade potentially, but definitely glass would work as well. They are the good old aluminium windows, so we could paint the frames down the track.

A double garage or carport with pitched roof if you have the permitted setback?
What are you trying to achieve is this for you to live in as one house? The layout shows 2 kitchens and living space but no proper divide between levels for 2 dwellings
wire railing will be fine and cheaper

Hi Kate, we'd have to build it right up to the boundary line, we've seen several other properties in the area that have done that so has been something that council has approved previously so just hoping that it's still something we can get over the line. I've popped a pic in of what the neighbours house looks like as what we are thinking of doing is a little similar in how they've built the garage off the front of the house. We've just relocated from Townsville to Brisbane, currently it's a 10 year plan, enough time for our children to go through high school in one place. After that...who knows... We're going to leave it as dual living for now, downstairs will be a space for family and friends to stay, and possibly we will air bnb it as well.

I'd be trying to build a deck the whole way across that upper level facade and make the study part the front entrance and have garage underneath. You 'd need to reconfigure bedroom 5 underneath.

And you did a fabulous job on your last place

Thanks CP, not sure if we'd have money for a deck and the roofing work that would potentially go with it, but defnitely food for thought.

That photo looks great and will give you an entry up to the first floor. So perfect for your brief.

Thanks Kate, it was actually funny as that's not what I had envisioned, but after your comment, I went back and looked at it with other half, and it was like we both had a light bulb moment. It works well to make the entrance up the front onto the verandah and into the living area, means that we can still keep that downstairs bedroom. We are now also toying with the idea of taking out one set of the internal stairs, could make that space then a walk in robe for the master upstairs, and then downstairs would be an entry via the side door, and means you can actually lock off access to the bottom level if chosen to do so. We'd love to gain an en suite for the top level, but just can't see how to do that without losing a bedroom upstairs, which we just don't want to do if we can help it.

Ok, I've switched profiles, realised I was in hubbys. So wanted to start to flag some other things we're discussing, did a search through the forums but didn't find much. We've started looking at ceiling fans, I'm really liking this one https://www.lightingillusions.com.au/shop/ceiling-fans/white-eglo-noosa-52-3-blade-dc-indoor-outdoor-ceiling-fan-with-remote-control-203371-30620?gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1FjvWOQALSgDv8WofnzaWGMB7iS5hv6Yef0v8DEgMiUSmvoaIxDPtBoC01YQAvD_BwE there are multiple sizes and we'll be able to select the sizes based on the room it's going in, and I like that the light function is flush and not an add on. This house I'd like to have fans only with downlights in the bedrooms where possible, last house we had no option but fans with lights due to no ceiling cavity. This house will be a combo of both, upstairs there's a ceiling cavity to work with, downstairs not because of the two storey factor - unless we want to rip down ceilings...which we don't...we're avoiding as much demo and rebuild as possible this time around. There is virtually no air con in the house either, so we're still talking about that too. So what's come up is...do you go with both fans and air con? Living in North Queensland you need both, it's a no brainer, but living in Brisbane...I'm not sure yet.

Secondly is daughters bedroom, we have a now tween that was most unimpressed that we bought a disgusting house 4 years ago, that we said we'd fix, which we did and promptly left it. Her main brief for us when house hunting was that we wouldn't renovate...however unfortunately it hasn't quite turned out that way. One of our promises to her is that her room is first. This is what we're working with.

We're going to keep the built in study nook concept, she's asking for tropical wallpaper behind it, trying to decide if I think we should paint the rest of the room all white, or do a green feature wall to match in with the tropical wall paper in the study nook and the remainder walls white. Window treatments...I don't like curtains that finish at the sill height, so in this room I'm thinking maybe roller blinds, or roman blinds...but would appreciate any input. Problem is once I decide on something I get a bit funny about what goes everywhere else. So if this room gets roller blinds, I feel like that means all the bedrooms should have them for consistency.

This is the other view of her room.

The whole house has the timber veneer 70s/80s doors in every built in cupboard as well as on the doorways. Hubby wants to keep them...I'm less enthused, and thinking now to keep one or the other, ie replace all the entry doors to update them and leave the timber veneer on the wardrobes, or flip that and go for updated wardrobe doors and leave the veneers on all the entrances. Those hardwoods you can see in the hallway will run throughout the top floor, eventually we'll remove all the carpet and sand and finish the floors, but for now the carpet that is there isn't that old and can stay put.

The doors I'd restain in a redder , more cedar like tone . If your daughter wants tropical wallpaper with green tones , theres presumably yellows too , so the other 3 walls I'd go a cream with a pastel lemon/lime tone , rather than anything white .

And without knowing the outside look , or your prefernces , but I like wood , so with those internal window sills , and the newly stained doors , I'd go vertical wooden venetians , probably in natural wood but maybe even in white ( NOT cheap white plastic though , thats just encouraging her to run away haha ) , especially if you have a yellowy/limey/green tinge to the walls .

Thanks Pottsy, for the ideas, I'll keep you posted as we get closer what we end up doing. :)

House settled Monday, all moved in Wednesday, so excited to be back in our own place and out of the rental. Haven't quite decided what our first project will be. 😊

Great. Find the wallpaper for your daughter and start there. Yes bedrooms can be different. Although it is a lot easier with less decisions to do paint and window coverings all the same. But bedrooms are small rooms easy to redecorate to fit changing kids.

Thanks Kate, I think the latest is no wallpaper, she keeps changing her mind...kids...lol

My teenage daughter would swap out the wardrobe drawers for sliders, add a cheval mirror, black hung shelving unit and some fake cacti. Fluffy blanket. Comfy chair. Double bed, Block out curtains. Good luck and prepare to change again. in 18 months,

Thanks Kate, I put the idea to her for sliders and she wants to keep the ones she's got, we've got a few months, thinking of an Easter reno for her room, by then at least she'll have lived with the space for a bit and maybe have some other ideas by then.

On another note, we've met several neighbours since moving in, turns out what we thought was our 80's reno is actually a 70's reno!

Get it in writing from her! Or maybe I just wish I documented some of my daughters decisions on options ;)