Start at the top! The roof looks old and needs re spraying, even a pressure wash with a good shiny finish would enhance. I agree with the above advice, but most of all painting the bricks, even though some see this as a sin, I would paint them bright and white. A georgous bright blue Aqua front door would help with some matching pots either side. I would put in a circular driveway with a wide front entrance. Also I suggest some form of down posts across the front, again painted in Aqua and white. If you have room for a carport match the colours again. If this house is dark inside I would install some form of automatic ceiling windows to create light and brightness throughout. Your garden, well I would give those balls some serious trimming and remove anything too obtrusive. You could always create mounds around the circular driveway and replant using an landscaping expert. Ñot only would this totally transform your home, bring it up to date and add several hundred thousands of dollars, it's worth the time effort and expense! Kind regards, Jo-Anne Aherne of Woollahra omenpeak@msn.com

Wow thank you. And thank you for your helpful and "out of the box" suggestions, Eva! Without your idea of the screen for the service area, this garden may not even have eventuated.

I agree with several other commentators. I love the look of your house, arches & all. Retro is in! I would pretty much leave as is & concentrate on cleaning concrete & landscaping. You will be amazed at what a difference good landscaping will make to the street appeal. With the right colors in your planting you might even come to like the look of your home like most of us already do. In a busy world the last thing you want is more upkeep & I think you would be making a rod for you own back if you render or paint the brick. And keeping it true to the era could add to its resale value. The only things I would change is the color of the garage doors & facia to either Dulux Natural White or Antique White USA whichever you prefer & the gates black if you want to be safe or a bolder contrasting color. As for the window frames I keep tossing up between the black & the white. Maybe black window frames with black gates would look good. Good luck with it all & look forward to seeing the finished result. Cheers Jenny

Wow amazing advice - thank you!! We are in the mid-hinterland on the Gold Coast. :) Since posting we have planted out the back strip with a mix of Vibernum, Chinese dwarf bamboo, elephant ears, Xanadu and ornamental grass. We still have both sides to do yet and it feels like it will never end! Unfortunately our garden beds were edged with pavers at build stage and we aren't equipped to rip them out to widen the garden beds now. but I am considering culling the mulch in some areas on the sides and putting in feature sections with Riverstones. I love the idea of using water feature/bowl and will try to incorporate one. We went and bought 9 golden cane palms which we haven't yet planted due to some posts online about the root systems and them being problematic, we are thinking about maybe putting them along the retaining wall, any ideas how to manage the root growth? We thought about keeping them in larger pots and planting around the pots, has anyone seen this executed well? Updated pic attached. You can see a bush fire that went across the hinterland yesterday, bit close for comfort! Also the palms we are thinking about in bags against the wall. PS - Whoever would have thought that turf is so hard to keep lush! OMG thats a whole other post! hahaha