ensimpson, Please do not render that brick. It is quite a nice brick and render can look very cheap and often done poorly cracks and looks even worse. If you don't like the dutch cables, you can go about removing them. These are not primary roof structure typically, but there will be a little work in making good the roof where they were. Alternatively, give these gables a function, place a fixed louvre, like you have shown in the attached image and allow the roof to vent through them. This will also impact the comfort of the home as there will be less heat buildup in the roof cavity. I agree with the comment above, the driveway is very prominent. This is partly the perspective of this image, but you could consider options for the driveway paving. I do not think painting grey is a good one. Repaving with a natural grey material could be as there would be more life and texture to it, but it is an expensive one.

Hey Nik Star, I've had a PowerPoint play with oklouise's edits. This is what I meant about garage entry to the pantry and a laundry in the garage. The red arrows are to stipulate to the builder that level access is required. I added extra garage depth to allow for the garage, that would definitely impact your facade elevation. If you remove the wall between the butler's pantry and mudroom you would have a SUPER PANTRY! But a true butler's pantry in that it was supposed to be where you would land with the veg from the garden so you would kick your shoes off inside the door, so I've noted a little bench seat there, then head in and wash it before heading over to the actual cooking area. Then if you get rid of the sliders and reduce the storage to shallow shelving on the middle wall you would have plenty of space to manoeuvre with mobility devices. For the washing labour machines - washer, dryer, dishy - try getting those mounted on plinths so the load on your poor back is reduced. I have dodgy joints so I am researching all the ergonomic ways to design work spaces to help me when I get to the awesome stage you guys are at with getting to build!

If you want to make the house hotter, then painting the roof charcoal will certainly achieve that. Repointing the brickwork is the most sensible from a maintenance perspective. Once you render and paint, then you have to keep painting (and it's likely to be out of fashion sooner or later). Try to keep passive cooling in mind (i.e. light colours & permeable landscaping) with any of your renovations, and I think it always pays to try and embrace and compliment the original architecture and be unique, rather than trying to look like the latest project home. In my opinion the arch window is actually quite cool, and the excellent mock-ups provided by Geo Toria are along the right track.

Western Sydney can be a very hot place in summer. So you've really got to try to minimise summer heat loads. What does this mean? Keeping the summer sun off your windows. Easy to do in the north, with appropriate length eaves. But much more difficult to do from the east & west. As the sun is lower in the sky & eaves become ineffective. Western sun is a particular problem, as the sun is in this direction at the hottest time of the day. So that is why quite a few people a few commenters have raise the issue of too many western windows. So how do you resolve this? It's difficult to do when the long sides of your home face east & west. But there are options to minimise western glazing. Firstly, eliminating or minimising windows. That's a very large western window in the dining area, which will get blazing hot in summer. I'd be eliminating this window (more in that later), or at least greatly reducing its size. I'd be eliminating the western wrap-around portion of the master bedroom window. Yes, it may look cool, but this will be at the expense of you comfort. You certainly don't want SW sun coming in your bedroom windows in summer evenings. Same goes for the media room. A very large western window means a very hot space. I'd this a true media room? If so, I'd think you'd want lower levels of glazing in this room. I'd actually eliminate this window, & take the following approach. Next, where possible, swap the western windows for glazing facing a different direction. You can do this in the media room, with long, thin windows. You can also do this in the upstairs living area. Again a large western window, which certainly should be swapped out for a northern window. Thirdly, locate rarely used rooms in the western side of the house. So they can bear the brunt of the western sun. Bathrooms, laundries (not in your case), & importantly, the garage. So I'd actually look at flipping the from portion of the house, so that the media room faces SE & the garage SW. Tough you won't have access from the garage to the laundry, which may be something you want. I'd then consider having the entrance to the home on the western side, beside the garage. This means you'll have a shorter hallway from the entrance to you living areas. Changes to the location of the garage to the western side may not be allowed, of the road is busier, or if the driveway is too close to the corner. So that would need to be looked at, if you were considering this change. As for your remaining western (& eastern) windows, you've got to try to minimise the amount of heat that comes through these windows. There's a few approaches. Louvred vertical sun shades or timber battens are an option. These will reduce the amount of sun striking the window, & increase privacy, but decrease the views out the window. Shutters or awnings are an option, but probably don't look as nice. Window treatments, such as low-e glass, are a good idea too - just note reviews for some single glazed low-e glass products aren't great. Western (& eastern) glazing should certainly be low SHGC (solar heat gain coefficient). As has been mentioned, windows should also be designed for cross-ventilation. A free was way too cool your home, especially effective at night. Winter in western Sydney can be pretty cold too. In winter it's all about letting the sun in, particularly the northern sun, as the sun is in the northern portion of the sky. As has been mentioned above, northern covered alfrescos aren't a great idea. Robbing north facing living areas of daylight, & winter sunshine. At the very least add a vergola to let some sun in here. you should also consider zoning your main living area. that is, having a door that can separate it from the rest of the house. Then you can just heat this room, instead of the entire house. Otherwise the staircase will act like a giant chimney, losing heat upstairs. You'd need to reverse the direction of the staircase, to add a door between it & the kitchen/laundry area. May not be ideal, but worth considering.