I have the same thing on my house and do not find it bad and I have grandkids in and out all summer from the pool. But I think you could get some extensions welded on with glass installed between the uprights.

The façade cost will depend upon the materials you pick and site specs (sloping blocks are a bit more challenging) and labour costs ( just make sure that you check your trades licenses, insurances and references for everyone who works on your house) - once you're structurally sound then the rest is straight forward (it's also been my experience with my builders - who are awesome - that they can come up with some amazing ideas that are cost effective and have a real wow factor). If it were me I'd ask around the neighbourhood for builders that can be recommended - they should be able to do it all at the same time and save you some money. On the materials - I'd be tempted to go with natural timber that will weather naturally without needing maintenance - personally I'd lean towards a Japanese technique of charring the timber so that you don't need to do a lot of upkeep - called Shou-sugi-ban - the reason being that the dark colour will tone in with your window frames.

Hi guys.... Thanks for all comments! The colonial windows are timber so difficult to change without huge expense. There is also lace work on the verandah and balcony, And decorative octagonal window difficult to see in the photo. The front doors are traditional with etched glass inserts. We have formal and informal areas in the house - the front rooms have antiques etc. so more traditional formal areas but rear family and kitchens, and outdoors is more contemporary. We kind of like the gracious look of the house so don't want to screw it up with a bad "try hard" render - plenty of these around. What we are trying to achieve is staying true to the original feel but with some freshening up, and making the most of its street presence. The house is really solid - it was the builders own home when built in 1978.

And as I always say, grey is a colour that invariably puts me off anything, but in this case the garage doors and wooden balcony balustrade soften the rest of the grey exterior it stops it from being oppressive!