I also would not paint or render the bricks - the ongoing maintenance is not worth it. Your house is crying out for a splash of red. The cream paint work could be in bright red. I don't like the central paved area with the hump in it. You do need to have your garden done - it would make an enormous difference to your home when done properly. A bobcat could take of that whole hump, taking the slope away from the house; currently the slope is draining towards the home. Where is north in the photo? It looks like a well built home, so be sparing on making too many changes. Its the external grounds that are letting the home down, which is so often the case.

Congratulations Mark! I really like the drawings that you did up with the new door and deck at the front. It makes a huge difference to the house. I think the all grass look at the front is a bit much. It would benefit from some sort of pathway to the deck, but I don't have the imagination of the other Houzzers, but I love what you have done so far.

From the look of the under whelming front Stairs the house looks about 450mm (3 steps) or so off the the ground. So could make more of a presence redo the front door entry / stairs quite cheaply with a timber deck that starts at the front door wraps around the each side if the house a bit, then flows down onto the entry path and terraces down the sides. Along with the other suggestion of painting the front door a brighter colour would create character lift the entry nicely. Does the front of the house face north or If your budget allowed a narrow deck say 1.2m (with pergola) along the entire front would transform the place entirely.

As others have said, it's all about balance. Firstly, replace the seemingly pointless area of paving to the left of the door with turf while keeping the sandstone garden edging. If you need the parking bay in front of the house reduce it down to in line with the corner of the house and make the garden in front of the house deeper by removing more pavers. If you don't need the parking bay get rid of it all together and turf that area. To make the front door easier to find remove everything in that garden to the right of the Frangipani (which needs some selective pruning) and then run a path from the footpath (or steppers) to the porch. I would also place a feature plant in a pot to the left of the front door to draw the eye and paint the door a lighter colour so it stands out. Lastly, a feature tree in the garden to the left near the Wooly Bush to add some height to that side of the garden.