Thanks for the replies! My wife suggested we talk to a local real estate agent, so i think that is a good idea... just that Im not sure how helpful they are likely to be if we arent selling yet :) As for saving for our dream house, I dont disagree, however if doing this up nicely over the next ~5 years or so while we live here nets us some extra in the eventual sale, then that of course will help us as well. Interesting thing happened today actually. I got a knock on the door and one of the older neighbours asked if he could take some lemons from the tree. I of course said yes. Anyway he was telling me he had lived in the street for 40 years. I asked him if the house had always looked like this, and he said no that ~30 years ago the old old owner did a massive renovation and pulled off the timber and put up the bricks and gutted the inside of the house. Interesting stuff!

I quite like the colour scheme, it's looking good!

Hi, our 20 yr old home is being renovated to include a double garage off one end. Current colours are the old brown aluminium joinery (staying), the cedar (staying), and roof colour (karaka green?). it all looks rather drab and we would like a modernised twist on the home. I am thinking mid grey, dark grey, or black for aluminum garage doors and the board that runs under the spouting. Spouting will also be replaced, I like the look of copper but this may be cost prohibitive! We have a deck fence that we will also change from the current green, in keeping with the new scheme. Any ideas would be gratefully received please!

An old post , so sort of sorry to revive it ! The lighter shade looks a lot better , but something doesn't gel with me -- it looks like a beautiful Million Dollar house , let down by someone trying to save $10k . IF it was my place , the 2 things I would do is change ( or hide ) the round pillars , and the relatively cheap looking brickwork . I'd go for quality stonework in place of the brickwork , and carry the theme through to the pillars -- probably 'squaring' the pillars . In fact , I personally don't like the slightly strange 'extra' pillars -- I'd try to 'cut back' to 4 pillars , in a quality natural stone . Once I had done those 2 'improvements' , I'd sand back and restain a darker brown the entrance doors and surrounds -- that golden look screams 1980's IMO . I realise they tie in with the existing colours , but I'd want to get away from that look . Maybe I'm strange . . . . . . .