I detest rendering with a passion. If you go down this path, the whole period of the home will be lost forever. Rendering can be high maintenance after some years and it also affects the breathability of buildings. I assume it's solid brick? So why remove the natural insulation of brick by covering it with a product that is already losing its appeal? And the colour of the brick is beautiful and neutral. I would remove the garden blocking the view of the home. I would have a 1.5 metre hedge at the front with a taller one to hide the neighbours fence. Then consider a tree, off centre in a lawn (deciduous). For a first home and garden, this is simple and will be low maintenance after a few years.

Thank you all for your comments, photos and links. Thank you all for your comments, photos and links. This style of house is what I like but I only have a small budget -$5000.00. I have researched roof painting and read several forums where people have painted their own roofs with good results as long as they were meticulous with the preparation. I will remove the shutters and definitely engage the services of a garden designer. I live in Perth and we haven't seen rain for awhile. Seems sensible to get rid of the lawn. And I will further research painting or re surfacing the driveway and change in the future. But, where do I start? What should I do first to implement change? Thank you for any further comments.

I'd be different , and wouldn't go too dark -- I'd almost consider a light grey or a sandstone or even a very light green/grey as the main colour , with the windows and shutters in the crisp white . Boring eh ? THEN though , I'd do the gutters and garage door in the brightest red or orange or yellow -- that balances out the crisp white features . And then , I'd do a largish sloping pergola about twice the width of the front veranda entrance( basically about as wide as the edge of the windows -- maybe 4-5metres , and coming out around 2 metres . The higher edge would be above that 'break' line , and therefore camoflauge that . Personally , I'd do it in a nice mid red type stain ( or use a rich timber and varnish it ) , but charcoal would work and contrast too . I'd levae the bricks , waterblast the drive , add a couple of big glossy terracotta pots ( maybe 1metre or more tall ) in the same colour as your gutterings , with cactus or similar -- these can even be added later as budget permits . Depending on your skills , it would be pretty budget ( maybe under $10K ? ) but it would really lift the look . Just an idea .

Thankyou everyone for your comments - 1990's homes are often overlooked - BUT, they do often have generous spaces and are well built, and perform better thermally than older homes. With clever design they can often be re-configured without any, or minor structural changes.