Hi all, it's now 2020! I'm at render stage and would love it to be white but the renderer I spoke with this morning said to think long and hard about 'white! as it gets dirty very easily especially taking into account the recent dust-storm, not to mention the ash and smoke from the ongoing bushfires. I would like to know: how your respective white renders are coming along in regards to appearance, staining and maintenance; and what type of render and render finish do you have? I am looking at a sandy Rokcote acrylic render. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks Wuff, will check out your profile pics! We are going to change the position of the front door to the wall it adjoins for a better entry/flow through the inside of the house. This would allow us to extend the existing wall getting rid of the recessed part of the porch (I want to use the reclaimed part plus the existing hallway for a robe and linen cupboard). We would extend the porch/deck to the edge of the outer wall where the new door will be. Given your reaction, any comments on changing the porch to remove the recessed section in favour of a large entrance area?

Personally I would leave it light, a wooden look will make your colour scheme look darker unless that is what you are going for, keep it a creamy colour to match the render, I think the street appeal is nicer when lighter, gives a nice clean look, just my opinion though. As an addition to my answer, soften the whole look with plants side of garage and in pots each side of door, I stand to my decision that the wooden look will not make it pop but in fact darker the whole exterior and therefore the kerb appeal as I am just retired art restorer my eye for colour and detail is pretty good and been admired but ultimately the decision is what you are looking for and if will it suit your objectives, yes the garage looks larger due to the lighter colour but a darker wooden look will make the whole look darker, so in my opinion less street appeal, even a coloured bougainvillaea to soften and bring colour can soften the whole appearance of the front maybe a climbing one or another plant of your choice that will do the same, darker colour doors is what it says, DARKER! Another way would be to paint soft stripes of a TONAL colour to the door like white with beige for example that breaks the white up but keeps it classy and light for the street appeal, hope this helps you. I would paint the stripes the same way as your upright render and definitely in the same beige tone add maybe a fountain to the greenery in the front of the home as well, these ideas will draw the eyes from the white garage door, you don't have to do all but that is a few suggestions from my point of view, Once again hope these extra ideas help in your decision.

JE C, we are replacing the 2 big windows in the bedrooms in the next month or so, but the 2 smaller ones are the in bathroom. The windows are not my style, but the bathroom is ok so we won’t be remodelling as early as we will be doing the bedrooms. And it’s a good question about going modern vs retaining the existing style. I don’t want to completely lose the uniqueness of the property, but it’s just not very appealing from the roadside, so I can’t help but think we need to radically change and therefore modernise it. The brown slated area has a slab and is about 5 - 6 metres wide and currently houses the rubbish bins! We have considered building another carport there as we can’t use the garage on the other side of the house (it’s too narrow)