Sitting on the fence

I have to make a decision on what kind of front fence to get. I was originally going to get hardwood timber posts with pool fencing in between mainly because it would be quick and I thought quite economical. Something along the lines of this -

Image from www.ilandscape.com.au

Everyone though (like 5 people) keep saying that it won't match the house and will look cheap. A totally hardwood fence is waaay too expensive, so the consensus has been for timber fence with top rails.  The thing is…I just can't picture it. So I've done a super dodgy photoshop job for a vertical option and horizontal option and I STILL can't make up my mind.

The horizontal version with white palings and top rail in the same colour as the front door - Dulux Simone Weil. I'm leaning towards this version cause it matches the horizontal timber on the gables.

The vertical version. Obviously there will be a bit more palings between each post, my photoshop skills just aren't good enough to match. I don't love this style, but I don't hate it. This is apparently better though cause there's less chance of sag over time.

I'm totally on the fence (pun intended) with all of this. What say you?