We built a home modeled after this historic home in our downtown. We have now decided against shutters and are looking for help with trim options/paint color. We were considering a light green with white columns and white trim around windows. i've seen some pictures now of a gray house with red board and batten garage and I am intrigued. We are using hardie and probably SW but could go with any paint. Any suggestions would be fantastic! Thanks in advance!

What a charming home!! It appears that the front/walkway might need a good power washing to begin with. I could not live with that type of storm door. The white trim should be freshened up, and the same for the stucco. I really like the colors. After that you might want to take a look at the landscaping.

We were out kayaking today south of you on the Gulf Coast. The waterfront house that caught my eye was the one painted a lovely light pink with white trim and a charcoal roof.

Well that is good there aren't any windows there. However the usual rail height is about 25 inches. That is a huge difference. Having windows will make the height look that much higher. First check the height of the square part of the porch post. I believe it may be higher than 36". I would use a post with the square portion no higher than 36". For the rail height it is unfortunate that the code is such but the only way you can get around that is to follow the design from my website. You can add an additional hand rail that can be removed later. The temporary hand rail does not have to look good but just be stable for it will later be removed. Another option is the following. This is done in black so it will not really show as white. It can be removed or remain permanent. See the photo attached. The full article is here: https://www.oldhouseguy.com/ocean-grove/ A last option that is not really good is to use a design that is permanent. The design will be the same as in the diagram on my website but have a more finished look. You will see vertical balusters at the correct height but then you will have the "addition" on top to increase the height. What would I do? I would go for the removable option. My 2nd choice would be the black metal bar in the image above. Porch steps railing. You would be surprised that homes with very very high steps seldom had hand rails historically. Therefore a black iron handrail on the steps is acceptable for it will not be noticed much. One more thing. Your porch skirt looks very nice but the porch posts do not line up correctly. See here https://www.oldhouseguy.com/porch-skirting/