rinqreation Was there a leakage in the roof, where the blackened wood is? Or bird's nests (we had those black stains from sparrow poo)? Get this checked. If it was, you could consider painting/sheeting the ceiling. Otherwise leave the wood as it is.
Stucco and paint the brick a light color. Close the bottom half of the loft (and paint same color as stucco). Close the stair rails (same color as stucco). Remove the awnings, build a veranda or large pergola.

rinqreation A dark greywash (read:black stain) might look amazing too, especially to keep the grain but cover the dark stains. And/or a white coat on the floor. My guess is it's about balancing the amount of wood and other surfaces. Right now it's too much honey color and too much wood.
Some food for thought I found on Houzz:

A. Peltier Interiors Yes, a grey wash with a little white would look great. I just think it is a lot of honey wood right now and you need to nuetralize that. Otherwise its beautiful!

Dar I really think this house is wonderful. The wide railings on the loft are really wonderful & modern looking I would try to keep those just as they are Maybe add plexiglass to keep sound down and for safety. In fact I think I would replace the railings on the first floor with similar railings and add a better set of stairs to the loft with those railings.

The ceiling are really beautiful it's the floor that is not so lovely. I think I would leave the ceiling and refinish the floor in either white pickling or go espresso (Espresso may make the room too dark) Putting stucco or sheetrock over the brick on the first floor would be a good solution.

Replace the awning with a boxy overhang like the rest of the house.

This is a perfect house for modern furniture and could really be a showhouse.

rinqreation Made you some pictures with everything changed in there. Just to show the endless possibilities.

Dar Interesting. Not liking the white walls or solid walls around the loft. Maybe the loft would be acceptable if the half walls were white like the half walls or dark brown like the rest of the ceiling. Removing the dark railing and making them solid really removed the character of the loft.

katealt Thanks everyone for so many awesome comments and ideas! Rinqcreation, you are awesome! What software or app did you use to change the colours? I want to see what off white walls and ceiling look like. That black stain on the ceiling looks bad, otherwise I would love to match up the colour in the floors and ceiling maybe and just paint/stain the walls and brick. Maybe do a dark stain on the ceilings and floors to match? I have seen darker ceilings and lighter floors and it feels heavy and awkward. E other way around is ok.

With the loft, I was thinking of extending it and using plexiglass to keep kids safe and putting in good stairs? I do like the plastered stairwell downstairs.

bevballew Gorgeous.

bevballew I love the color just as it is. It is stunning. If you get tired of it down the road then change. I think it is so cool. Hard to envision the kitchen as we cannot see it. Yes you can change up the awning. I am always for opening up but hard to envision the kitchen idea. I think this home is awesome.

rinqreation I used Gimp.

rinqreation Some more:

astraea Definitely agree about checking out the stained ceiling, but don't at all like the loft being closed in & walls painted white. The whole beauty of this house is in the wood & openness; close it up & you lose that. I think that this design is such a statement, that if you really don't like it, this might not be the right house for you.

katealt The kitchen is the bigger problem. It is a galley kitchen and the door entry from the dining/living room is next to the loft stairs. The kitchen long walls are between a hallway and the outside, so you can't really open it up the long way. I am thinking cut out the little walls on either side of the entry on the ldining/living room side to open it up as much as possible and add a big breakfat bar but those darn loft stairs are going to be in the way.

katealt Here are the rest of the house photos so you get the feeling for the setting and whole house.

katealt More...

katealt Others...

Dar Yikes! Not liking the white ceilings at all. Reminds me of the inside of a big tent. If this were my home I would live with the wood for a while. It has character not easily recreated so you want to make sure you get it right. There's no turning back if you paint it. Having dark ceilings and floors will be cavelike where as now it is warm.

bevballew What a fabulous home and outside. I look at it this way. No house is perfect. The kitchen is very nice and even opening it up a bit is good and you have the capability to do it. I agree. Once you paint the wood it is difficult to go back. Your outdoors is beyond beauty.

katealt Yes, I have thought that about painting the wood, it could be a deep regret later. It just feels so dated and 70s but maybe making the other changes with the kitchen and loft, which I think should be kept open with plexiglass, may modernize it enough. But I do see more black stains- the photo from the loft stairs looking down you can see another big long black stain. I love wood but this looks like knotty pine that is rustic and dated to me. I do like rustic but not dated, you know? And I HATE the brick, it makes me feel ick!

It is an Australian urban acerage bush/forest setting in Brisbane. Lovely natural environment and great big pool, lots of space and apx. 2.5 acres. So much potential!

rinqreation A high black/dark stained ceiling will not make it look like a cave with the right amount of light colors next to it. And speaking of the kitchen and the stairs; if you want to add a 'good stairs' and like the idea of closing the sides of the 'down-stairs', you could pick a spiral staircase. This way you will have some more space to cut out part(-s) of the kitchen wall? The stairs could go around the existing centerpole?

rinqreation Fooling around :) and forgot to dark stain the stairs before saving it..

dianahb Beautiful house. Not sure I'd change anything, but I would get that dark stained area in the ceiling checked out. Not at all sure why above poster mentioned the floors being a problem. Those floors look incredible to me-- red oak? Not sure-- but I wouldn't change any of that. I would avoid table and chairs, or other furnishings, that try to match too closely to all the existing wood-- but, other than that, it's a beautiful room as is. Love the lights they have on the ceiling, too, and the open staircase. I think I'd stay with cool colors on the walls (eliminate that yellow wall that leads to the other room-- brings out too much of the yellow in the floors-- and white seems uninspired. But to my eye, with the right furnishings and wall colors on the painted walls-- this would be perfect. I think the natural wood seems to fit the house.

carolins What a great house! I'm just commenting to see the progress of this thread. I don't think I can add to what's already been said, so.... :-)

Jabelone Great house. The 70's weren't all bad! We renovated a similar 'woody' (honey toned) home (first pic). Had a few people suggest that we paint the ceilings white but I agree with the others who said that's wrong with this kind of structure. Also disagree with those that suggested the ceiling and floor should NOT match. Both our surfaces are Douglas Fir and once furniture is in it looks cohesive. Your instincts are on target. We had to introduce more white surface on the walls and we did that with simple drywall. (We also chose to go with an espresso kitchen to not add more wood tones into the house, but not an issue if the kitchen is separate). I'd leave the loft as is and just put up solid front mount glass railings there (like second pic). You can paint the brick. Yes, the dark staining on the ceiling might be an indication of a prior leak but a roofer or home inspector can look into that for you. It's a cool space and with a little work could be a show stopper. Wonderful setting too. Good luck if you proceed.

Robin W You can always go darker with wood but its a lot harder to get it lighter once its dark.

My father is a carpenter and reminded me of this when I was searching for the perfect fixer-upper.

AK Complete Home Renovations Not sure where you're located but we offer a service for prospective homebuyers considering a remodel to the home they plan to purchase: http://www.akatlanta.com/Pre-Purchase-Home-Remodeling-Consultations
If you're not around Atlanta, maybe you could find a similar service from a professional firm that could offer some firm possibilities!

jan74 I'd leave the ceiling and floor wood, if it were my house, and refinish that wall with some drywall so it wouldn't be Wood Explosion in there.

DIAspoton well 1st of all, you'll be spending most of your time enjoying the pool and grounds so i suspect drastically changing the interior will become less of an issue.

this place is fabulous.

it would be wise to take some time , do your homework to find the right designer. you're talking about a fair amount of $ and you need the help of some with experience, vision,fresh ideas and good subs.

has a qualified inspector looked everything over? checked behind the dark spots for mold and other damage? found the source of the problem?

the pic you posted of the loft with the iron rail is exactly right. nice staircase, love the beam color.
do keep us posted as you proceed.

ttatich Personally, the wood left alone works perfectly with the woodsy setting. It is also character to the architectural elements. Changing the color will "date" the decor in a way that is not harmonious to the house itself. The main living areas of your home are awesome. You should consider sanding, bleaching and restaining the black wood AFTER you figure out why if you haven't already. Yes, I would have to enlarge the kitchen - possibly open it up; but without a floor plan, I can't say how. The bedrooms have some great stone and wood features that can be enhanced easily with paint and fabric textures to really pop or warm it up. I wouldn't go with white ceilings either. Don't fear color!

butlera Beautiful home! Lucky you! :-) I would leave the wood as is, and work on neutralizing the furnishings instead. White sofas and chairs would look amazing. I would paint the wooden dining room set white as well. A couple of large, white or pale area rugs would break up the yellowness of the flooring.

njcook53 Beautiful home & grounds! Lucky you! I think I understand it's the knottiness (if there's such a word) in the wood that you don't care for? You should live with it a while. If it still bothers you, you might consider staining to make a more uniform color. We have similar ceilings that haven't been stained, and I have seen ceilings stained a bit darker, and I personally prefer the darker, more uniform ceilings myself. Good luck and keep us posted!

travisinteriors A lot of wood. But nice. I would put a very large area rug in front of sofa. Stay away from anymore wood use glass coffee table and end tables put area rug under dining table make sure all furn is on rug even when chairs are moved back. To get correct size. For sofa maybe print but large, 8x12 or bigger.

travisinteriors Take out wood dining replace with round glass. Fabric or leather chairs. Lite over sofa. Too high and small lite should be 34" above coffee table. Large and too scale for high ceilings. Something fun. Do you have lite over dining? If so same thing drop dn and fun.

travisinteriors Some big pots right by window with a palm maybe 2 to fill outdoor place more plants indoors also, make sure they are big in nice big pots with color. Toss pillows in different colors and prints will help on blue sectional.

travisinteriors On loft put large 6x7 foot oil painting. Dn stairs in dining same thing. Break up so much wood.

travisinteriors Buy the house it's amazing, with a lot of potential. I didn't read your comment. I see this not your furn. So on my earlier comments. Take what you can .

travisinteriors There does look to be a leak on ceiling above sofa. Beware on that.

travisinteriors I would not extend loaf. But make another stair case no wood. Glass and chrome.

travisinteriors Do not paint wood.

rxhonski What are you...crazy? Never paint over the wood. It's beautiful. Just go w/ clean contemporary furniture / art. Fantastic. Buy it!

rinqreation playing with your picture again :)