you may get more response in the home decorating forum (see link). if you have a SW nearby you, you can grab similar color chips and see which one is the closest. Here is a link that might be useful: home deco forum

Thanks for topping this, gsciencechick, I completely forgot about it! We painted the lower deck with the swim spa a Porter color, Pumpernickel: The stairs going up to the smaller decks on either side of the screened porch are also pumpernickel, and the trim pieces around each top deck are pumpernickel. The rest of the decking is the custom khaki color. From the yard it looks great--- you see mostly the edges of the stairs and top decks in brown and the rest khaki... It is a very tailored look.

There is no way in hell I would even consider painting walls in a house I had never lived in.....and even without my furniture in place. The sun in the morning and the sun in the evening....what reflects off a garage a fence or a neighbor's house how your beloved hutch looks all affect the colors and tones of the paint and finishes I would consider. Colors look very different at night then they do on a sunny day and walls look different in an empty room than in the same room with furniture. Tell your friend to move in before he begins to select paints and finishes. I know it's a pain to move out of a room to refinish it....but I believe he will be happier in the long run. I have seen too many people who had to choose the colors and finishings in a new house, repainting in 3 months because the color was too dark or looked like white in the day time or because with the tile the walls look wrong and it's easier to paint than re-tile. It's fun to plan new finishes....but don't do more than fix a leaky faucet until you have been in the house for a while. Our first house was brand new plaster on lathe and we were told not to paint for at least 6 months to allow the plaster to fully cure. By the time the 6 months was over, I was so sick of all the white walls, I painted the living/dining area something like harvest wheat.....which was like dark mustard when all the walls were that color! I could hardly wait until the paint was dry to re do it!...But I was over reacting to 6 months without color!

Chickadee, that is my thought as well. The downspout color is perfect for the stucco and front entrance area. If those wood doors are stained, they will have to strip, sand and restain the doors. That is a lot of work, and IMO not really necessary if. They look too dark now because all the colors don't really complement each other. The brickwork and color is lovely. The pale color of the downspout on the stucco, trim and entry would be a nice foil for the dark wood door, shutters and garage doors. A bit of varnish to give them some reflective quality would make them seem less dark, ditto for the shutters. Another thought: If there are cross pieces on the garage doors ( cannot tell from photo ) they could do an opaque stain ( like paint but not quite) on the doors but keep any decorative crosspieces in the darker stain, in a Tudor, half-timbered style.