The suggestion about covering the lower-half of the windows is great - it really does focus your view up and out to the lightest part of the sky. We have just completed this shutter project on a similar style of window - the bottom and top shutters open independently and of course, unlike window film, you can open them right up to look out when you want. A nicely tended window box on the sill would screen things too - but maybe not all year round. Good luck!

Working with the existing you will not want to infill the whole courtyard otherwise you'll have vast areas with no natural light and the footprint is in any event plenty large enough for a good sized house. I'd look at glazed corridors down each side connecting front to rear, whilst also giving access to rooms down each side. The likelihood however is that the construction of the stable is very basic and the cost to convert this would be more than building a simple timber framed house, even if following the original form. Assuming Planning allows for this then I'd look into this.

Hi Dean, I think you could achieve an awful lot with some relatively inexpensive landscaping and exterior details to add character. As others have suggested painting the render white would help. Then I would really focus on introducing greenery with a low box hedge to the front (which also helps to stop people standing right outside ground floor windows) then window boxes to the 4 wide windows above. I like the idea of making the entrance a bit grander like older mansion flat blocks. Paint the double doors glossy black, add lanterns either side and use period brass details to give it a quality look. Black half railings/grills to the two central windows also helps continue the theme as do the tree guards to the front. A slightly more expensive update would be to replace the pathway leading to the doors with something else but it would definitely help balance and improve the overall front look I think.

We went through this same decision process with our 6x4m rear extension recently. Eventually we choose a gable with glazed end for several reason. Firstly several friends and comments online made me wonder about the heat and light issues with lanterns. It will also be our main living area when entertaining so noise on a large glass lantern was also a consideration. However worth noting we spoke to several builders and all came back with slightly higher estimates for the gable than the flat roof extension so that might also be a something worth considering (although that did include the glasses end, bifold and skylights). I'm currently researching skylights (that's how I found your post) and were looking at circa £6k for velux and possibly more if we go for frameless bespoke ones. Good luck with your planning.