White-tail spider in my track suit pants WHICH I WAS WEARING! I thought it was a lump of lint from the laundry, drew it out, and promptly flung it across the room once I realised... never to be seen again! How it didn't bite me and sat still to be picked up, I don't know - it must have known I wouldn't do it any harm. We lived in lots of country places, too... We were invaded by small black crickets one year, and lady bugs, another year, in your drawers, in your hair, in your pantry, in your undies... everywhere! And then the blue tongue lizard that would go in and out with our dogs via doggie door, and made itself a nest in our laundry... I gave up and left some old towels for it. Had an echidna get up into the wheel well of our car... wild brumbies in our patio... the list goes on. My husband still says that the most unwelcome visitor was his mother... I like her better than he does!

From your drawings I leaned towards squaring off the arches but seeing the house IRL I say keep them. Being raised from the road and the way the house is perceived to sit into the land, they look great. There is a graciousness to the arches which you don't often see in houses of this era, I think it because they are not uniform. I would look at the Spanish Mission style homes in Palm Springs for inspiration and keep the roof tiles rather than go colourbond too. You can still do a version of beach just more Spanish mission hacienda style!

living in regional NSW i'm sorry to say that the cost for building "in the country" seems much more expensive than on the coast.... plans i've done for several friends on the coast have been about 20-30% cheaper to build than locally (transport costs. less competition and volume discounts?)...i suggest you check some of the building companies like Gardner, Beechwood, Rawson homes etc building in your area for a comparison price

Suggestions from neutral colours: https://www.dulux.com.au/colour/colour-trends/2018/essential Ceiling & walls the same colour is a good choice for square set. There will be subtle hue difference in various lighting situations anyway, which provides depth and makes for an interesting look.