once you identify any structural issues and considered advice from an engineer but i suggest that the bricks were probably never meant to be exposed and the render was part of the structure...,is it a single or double brick wall, is there an internal framed wall, what about insulation? depending on the look you prefer it might be better to add external cladding eg corrugated steel or Scyon weatherboards to allow for an air space to improve insulation as well as weather proof the building after the wall is made structurally sound

Hi. We've just bought our first house; built in the 1960s. It's built from a textured red brick (not sure what the proper term is?) which although doesn't look bad, it could probably use a refresh. I would like to retain the brick appearance rather than hiding it all behind a render, and would like to avoid a grey and white colour scheme which is a bit too common (and probably wouldn't work anyway with the house). Some way to 'flatten' the appearance of the brick by removing or hiding the texturing I think would be great. The slanting roof looks a bit 80s! Any suggestions from the community on what can be done with this? Some examples of 'flatter' bricks which I think looks quite nice:

Everything that is yellowy beige , I would do in monument or similar charcoal ( well , I'd leave the gutters in the short term , I'll explain in a sec ) . Yes , including the window frames . Maybe even especially the window frames . The render -- Vivid white , Natural white , even something a bit different like Handmade Linen . Nothing blue tinged , or yellowy creamy . Oh , not grey in any form -- look at how uninspiring the render looks now ! So 'almost' black and white , with an earthy reddy brown roof . A new letterbox ( or paint that one , but me I'd go a $100-150 one with style ) . And don't forget -- the gutters are still that yellowy cream . Now to me , you have 2 choices -- do them charcoal too -- the whole place is sharper and cleaner , the disadvantage may be the roof looking tired and aged ? Or go a really vibrant red and take the focus off the roof , but within that spectrum . That would be my thinking .

My subway tiles are hand made Spanish tiles. I don't know what you mean by textured artisan tile?? I have used white grout. Our home is nearly six years old, and the grout is still white. I always rub a cloth over tiles if I have used the cook top. Keep it clean after cooking, and then it can't get dirty.