Love it! Considering the same color! One thing I have noticed. Depending on light and I'm not sure if its the Hardy but some greys look blue. I will ask my husband his opinion on a grey house and he asks if I am talking about the blue one. I think the Iron Grey is beautiful.
I'm thinking grey too, with a light metal roof. Might be crazy. Hard to find pictures of. Good Luck!

I think more grayish with some slight brown tones. Just my two cents :)

We were thinking that it would be too grey with the stone above. Would this be a better stone choice?

I think you stone choice needs a little more variation. Both of these permacon stones are mostly 1 color. But, I agree, your first stone choice was too similar in color to your hardy color. I'm just not sure you've gotten far enough away with the 2nd choice either.

We are doing a similar color palette and warming it up with a stone with grays and tans in it. I think that helps soften it a bit while still maintaining the look.

We wanted a grey house but felt the Iron Gray was too dark for our tastes. We are going with Boothbay Blue because while it is blue it also has a grayish vibe to it (if that makes sense)...black shutters and white trim. We are still working on the stone color. Something you may want to consider.

Came across this, maybe it will be helpful.

Here's a link as well. They even mention the name of the stone if you were interested and says the board is the same color as you're considering.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/is-this-iron-grey-hardie-plank-it-is-beautiful-dsvw-vd~111452-this-iron-grey-hardie-plank---It-is-beautiful-

that may not be the correct link -

http://www.houzz.com/%22iron-grey%22-Hardi_plank-siding

swtceleb - Thanks for posting! We had seen that house in our research. While it doesnâÂÂt look bad, it doesnâÂÂt blow us away either. To me, thereâÂÂs too little tie-in with the siding on that house.

Something like this below might work too - This is supposedly the Chambord Grey option with what I believe is the Eaton Accent stone.

In any case, we have a number of address for homes built with various combinations of the Permacon stones (we're not tied to Permacon, but it would make things easier in terms of sourcing).

Nobody else is opposed to the darkness of the siding though? The white trim definitely helps make the house pop.

The photos you posted look a little more like a dark blue/gray to me. To be honest, I prefer the color of your inspiration house. Is there a particular reason you are not considering the primed hardie vs the prepainted stuff? Our hardie was installed and painted eight years ago and still looks great. Our wood trim needs to be repainted, but the hardie is perfect. Plus, the caulked seams get painted, what do you do with the prepainted stuff?

I do not think the darker grey is horrible or anything, I just prefer the color of the inspiration house.

This post was edited by olivesmom on Wed, Mar 13, 13 at 13:23

I'm just trying to limit the cost of labor. Hardie install will already be a significant expense, I'm afraid of seeing what the cost would be to add paint to it as well.

I understand, though I wonder how much more the prepainted hardie is. Our home was built on the cheap by a production builder so it makes me think that the primed hardie + paint must have been cheaper than the prepainted otherwise the builder would not have gone that route.

My .02 cents is that to get a look like your inspiration pic you need a stone with more variation and some lighter tones than I'm seeing in the first two\ examples you posted. The last example you posted (Chambord Grey/ Eaton Accent stone) looks like it could work.

As far as the darkness of the siding itself, I think you have enough trim and stonework, as well as the porch, to break up the dark siding so it won't be overwhelming ,at least on the front elevation. I think the question of if it is too dark might depend on where you live. If you live somewhere that is dreary with many overcast days, it might seem darker and gloomy. If you live somewhere sunny and bright, I think the darkness of the siding is less of an issue. Any houses around you with that color that you can take a look at?

Thanks everybody for the comments.

olivesmom - Definitely something I can look into. Thanks!

ash6181 - Great comments. Very little with those colors in our neck of the woods - however there is one house with all siding in the same "iron grey" type color and it looks good. A little plain for my taste (all siding, no real eye catcher), but as a color combo it works well.