Thanks... house is at Gerroa (on the coast, 1-2hrs south of Sydney). We widened the wall by taking the edges back to two studs... then framing the top with timber.…

thanks Berek

Just sharing some before & afters of my reno. (Put this in the Interior Decoration forum first before I found this one - seems more appropriate). Did most of the…

Just sharing some before & afters of my reno. Did most of it ourselves & its now available for holiday rental (just google 'Southerly Change Gerroa'). Nearly all furniture/fixtures/appliances…

Got any ideas how to make this long & narrow (10mx2.4m) patio look nicer and feel more spacious without any major structural changes? What materials could I use on the…

thanks kexkez & buttercup... now if I could just make MYSELF look younger!!!

Thanks for the feedback..... Garage door configuration wasn't too tricky - was dictated by how much 'clearance' was needed around the edges of the doors openings to accomodate the tracks,…

Thought I'd share what we did over the last couple of months to update our 1980's red brick house....I've learned rendering isn't always necessary (though we may get there eventually)....…

Here we are at the end of June, finally finished updating the house exterior. Plan to render down the track once we've done a more 'major' reno, but for the…

thanks for the plant recommendations, kezacheekychicken. I definitely want to plant trees and shrubs alongside the house though. I have a garden design business so have already spent WAY too…

Hi kezacheekychicken - i just tried out Dulux 'rainmaker' on the house (virtually of course) - it looks good AND is close enough to the tile colour on the balcony…

You guys rock!!
Hadn't thought of that (just rendering 'round the window looking to balcony), kinda like that idea. Especially if I then put some kind of tasteful 'wall art' adjacent…

link is working now (sorry!)...

thanks for fixing my pics!
just found another colour I like more than the lighter one of the two just posted ... not sure if the dark is still nicer, though....…

Thanks JazzyJess & travelbug, glad you like my website! I'm a fan of 'before & afters' too... just been playing on the dulux website and was able to 'recolour' my…

thanks kimu & JazzyJess for your thoughtful replies & great advice!
If leaving the red brick alone wouldn't turn off potential (holiday) renters, do you think it could still limit…

Oh I see what you mean (about the window shade). I like the 'Bar house' photo - nice timber accents, but probably wouldn't put timber on ours (with all the…

thanks travelbug for your thoughts... hadn't thought about brick painting as limiting my future options, might steer clear then. I do like render in combination with another material (like this…

thanks roba...you're right, i don't want to waste money but I'll probably be offering home as a holiday rental for a few years so need it to look a bit…

I'm no expert & am looking for ideas to improve the look of this 80's red brick 'gem'! A big reno/addition is still a few years away, but in the…