All the suggestions above are perfectly good. However, when you have a house that is entirely painted, the options are so endless that it's easy to get stuck. I'd advise either finding photos of comparable homes in colors that you really love, and reproducing a similar palette on your home… or upload a picture of your house to a colorizing site, and play around with various combos. Sherwin Williams has a Color Visualizer that is decent. I don't mind a white house, but feel that the black trim is a bit harsh. On the railing especially- it feels like it is outlining itself too much. Reduce the contrast between the body and the rail and it will enhance the house rather than overwhelm it. You have a lot of choices, so just experiment and go with what resonates with you.

I would love the rocking chair too, but way too expensive for me, unfortunately!! Yellow could be good... hmmm, will have a look, thanks

Thanks for all the great ideas everyone and sorry I didn't explain the polycarbonate a bit better :) This is along the lines of what we'll be using... http://www.psp.co.nz/building-brands/corrugated-sheeting/suntuf-polycarbonate The area is an absolute sun trap and we're hoping to use it as an extension to our living space, especially on rainy days! I've just sent my husband out to get a few pots of different stains for is to try - darkest brown (cedar) and a lighter brown (rustic oak) both by Cabots + the black we already have. Hopefully we can decide between one of those! I probably should have mentioned we will have black aluminium pool fencing running along the top of the second retaining wall - so the real question is do we keep everything black (pool fencing, horizontal fence, retaining walls and pergola) or do we go with a dark (or even light) brown for the pergola and retaining walls.... We just keep going around in circles at the moment. Decisions, decisions! Thanks again :)

Hi Michelle - It looks like treated pine to me, and looks as though it has been recently built. If you did nothing it would fade to a grey colour within 6 months or so. This would probably blend in with the house quite well, and you wouldn't have to do a thing! Otherwise I would stain it - there are lots of stains on the market - see if there is one you like. A dark one would create a nice contrast with the house and make the fence look more like a feature. Good luck!