@ambulastar1985 - The lack of insulation in Australian homes is indeed appalling. Coming from a European background where insulation standards are very strict (although they differ from one country to another), I fail to understand why Australia is so behind on that matter. We may not have much cold weather compared to Europe but our summers can be extremely hot and it's silly to rely solely on air-con to regulate temperature. So much energy (and money!) could be saved by just planning the house and insulating it properly to start with, without affecting much the initial cost or construction time frame. In France - which is definitely not a leader in environmental matters! - these days, when selling a house, you have to get an expert to estimate how energy efficient your home is and to indicate the energy rating on the ad and sale documents. Houses that are not energy efficient sell for less and can also be taxed at higher rates by councils. It's been a great incentive to get people to think twice when building and/or renovating.

Looking at your photos, the existing colour with the timber is great. Several people have suggested timber shade structures over the windows. This will soften the grey and give you some depth to the structure. You could also try growing a green leafy vine in front of the pipe. Something that i not too aggressive and is easy to prune, such as potato creeper, would be great.

Ok. I am a little confused where to head. I need a future vision for all components of house and fence to make the little decisions. The pool blue tiles I love but not sure how to tie in with all the fences internal and external and with house especially if this green goes anywhere else ? But I have bought a " green paint" dulux scott's pine very similar to what was there but it is quite wet here so I stumbled on a photo edit option and have done an unskilled mock up on a photo and taken a photo of it in the meantime (as I couldnt work out how to save it!!! ) But although the green is lighter than actual paint I have bought I can actually (ok it has taken me a while) see how the green would work. But if I do that what would I do will both my green fence and my maroon fence from the outside. I also tried to track down junior navy and couldnt find that colour anywhere? I have slate in need of a little tlc inside front door which I love. I know for some people they find it hard to clean or dated. Its individual and I am beginning to subscribe to conscious consumerism. Lets be clear my house has had renos from some different eras so was and is going to be earthy but eclectic and individual in decorating style.

There are so many variables , but I'll just throw a few ideas . Really , you'd need to know yojur personalities and tastes , the houses in your suburb , your budget and what you want to achieve , whether you want to live there for 20 years or sell in 8 , and 1000 other questions . To me , the roof looks great , and it looks like the fences are stained charcoal . So thats a great starting point , but it also means its difficult to go mid-century or beach chic . I'd keep away from greys or beiges , but keep it light -- I just looked at Dulux Australia , and if you want to go 'interesting' , something like Lexicon Half or My Chincilla are subtle but not too shy -- My Chincilla looks like a grey with a slight purple tinge ! Either of those two I'd do stark white window surrounds , and probably white aluminium windows , but then charcoal powdercoating would actually be great IMO , and add a bit of Wow . Obviously whites and offwhites are more logical , but then you'd pretty much have to go with black or charcoal windows , and white or off-white surrounds . BUT if you did that , heres what I would do -- that front eve and the 3 'tall' windows ( yes I know the glass is only about 1/3rd of the frame ) I would do in a light teal , and then continue that to the wrought iron , and then a really bright but not fluro teal for the front door . Now , you may continue the light teal onto other window surrounds ( personally , I'd do the ones on the veranda in stark white , and the 'rear side' one in light teal ) , and all the 'other lower stuff' you can see , like the terrace boards , the bottom 100-150mm across the front , etc ) in charcoal to visually 'ground' the house . From there , a narrow , low stone and rock garden across the front of your house would make it look a lot better , with a few grasses and cactuses and low leafy bushes and red leaved bushes etc . One other idea -- those front windows aren't too bad ( although you say high maintanence ) so if replacing them , maybe cover them with 12-15 vertical wooden battens -- I'd do nicely varnished natural timber 50mm square and around 2 1/2 metres tall each . They will add a natural wood look , add a bit of privacy , a bit of interest , without cutting out all the light . Obviously , that is a pretty budget once-over-lightly idea , but it will change the whole look and feel of your place for maybe $5k materials , whatever labour costs ( $10k ? ) and whatever windows cost .