I've seen lots of vibrantly coloured craftsman bungalows that look great, also some rather outlandish victorian houses! I've seen some awesome hot pink and black victorians! Do a search both on houzz and google. The amount of trim and detail really works to show off a more dramatic colour combination. You even have the wrought iron fence which could look amazing painted maybe a gold or metallic colour! Check out a flickr stream called the daily bungalow for some great inspiration, they have other albums worth a look too, but this one shows some more creative colour schemes. Based on the photos I have seen you would be better picking the darker colour for the walls and a brighter colour for the trim. https://www.flickr.com/photos/daily-bungalow/sets/72157616179338294 https://www.flickr.com/photos/daily-bungalow/sets/72157635350209034

apennameandthata i don't know... vertical is more shed like style, while we still have a colonial style base and veranda. Dust will be an issue here (although its not so bad in that particular spot on a river, good protection from trees) but pressure wash will be regular practice anyway. Thanks for all your suggestions and I will take all on board, especially sandstone ideas. I don't this I want this house to look pretentious, but how can I describe that, I am after some subtle "wow" factor or something a bit different, but it must look like we knew what we are doing and YES, I want it to look like high quality build and not a transportable house or kit home. The house rectangle is so simple that I worry it may have that boring factor in its looks and that is why I am looking for some ideas. My problem is a tendency to overthink but I hope I will find a balance at some point :) At this stage I think: galvanised tin everywhere (or that zincalum), rusty steel posts, aluminum windows with timber look, sandstone features around main door and sandstone chimney. We had a big flood last year and the spot never goes under water, its on high grounds even though it is only meters from the river.

Hi Caz Your house has a lot of character. To freshen it up I would look at painting it white. Resene Triple Black White. It's a beautiful soft white but not creamy. The red guttering, which you decided not to touch, I would paint a grey with a green edge. Perhaps look at Resene Half Gravel or Resene Tapa. What I'm trying to do is find a dark colour that blends with your existing roof colour. For all the beautiful fillagree work, (what appears to currently be painted a shade of yellow) and poles, use a paler neutral with a green undertone like Resene Ash/Half Ash. If you want to accentuate the details on the poles or those corner pieces, you can double the strength that is used on the poles i.e. If you used Resene Ash, use Resene Double Ash. Have a play around and decide what colour intensity you like for all the details but don't go too dark, just so you can see a contrast. I think having the beautiful red tiles on the porch is fine and you don't necessarily need to keep the red on the guttering as it is drawing the eye to look at it. That scheme will freshen the house up beautifully. No pictures of front door but a glossy dark grey colour, similar to the colour in the porch tiles will tie it together. It will look beautiful. Would love to see more pictures.

Dont rely on google images, they are heavily edited and inaccurate, definately order swatches for accurate comparison. Below is a photo of Dulux Elements powder coating swatches which I have in my office - in the photo you can see (and from my own perspective of this colour) up close Surfmist is definately not 'white' but search the images on the web and yes it looks white (FYI first colour is 'Basalt', second colour 'Surfmist', third colour 'Black' and fourth colour 'Monument') Below also is one of my company's recent projects, chairs in Surfmist and tables in Monument, but looking at the image you'd swear it was 'white and black'. Before you decide Id suggest getting the actual powder coat swatches from Dulux which you can order via their website and then you can compare them and decide. Note: Colorbond Surfmist / Monument and Dulux are the same tone. Good luck!