OK apparently I don't know how to add more than one photo to a post! Here's the other photo that actually shows the roof!! :)

I agree with you on brown roofs and I do think they limit you more if you ever want to change your siding color than black or dark gray do. I would go with one of those.

Pretty house!

Black or gry would be lovely. I am not a big fan of brown roofs although sometimes they are lovely. I actually really like your shutter color. :) I do understand wanting contrast though. Around here I have even seen dark green roofs wiht dark green shutters on older houses and it looks lovely.

Well I typed a response and lost it, so here we go again.

Your home is lovely. I would go with black or a very deep, almost black charcoal. Your shutters could go black also. I would do your door in a high gloss, bright color or black. Black/cream and black/white is such a classic look.

What's your climate like? I hesitate to suggest a very dark roof if you live somewhere hot. . . .

Thanks everyone!

I live in Nova Scotia, Canada. We don't have hot summers - just the odd heatwave where we wish we had a/c but most of the summer it's not too hot.

I wish leaning in the direction of black or gray as well, so glad to hear your responses! I found an old thread on here where someone was playing with photoshop and I quite liked the versions where they had a dark gray roof with dark blue shutters. Here's the thread: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/decor/msg0615511223467.html

My house doesn't have such a noticeable roof as the one in that thread, though not sure if that's a good or a bad thing!

There's a white house across the street that has a dark gray/blue roof and similar shutters that looks really nice but I don't want to just copy it either! Blue is my fav colour though so I'd probably really like that. I wonder what other colour I could do for the shutter and door?

Just went for a walk in the neighbourhood and saw lots of houses with similar colour siding - either gray or brown roofs. There was one with black, but it looked too harsh. I think with pure white that black looks awesome, but that doesn't seem to translate so well with cream.

Oh this is so hard!

Black. It goes with everything, should you decide to change the siding of your house someday, or a future owner.

Did you see Mamorellas post? She just painted her front door the most luscious shade of blue. I was actuslly thinking that would be a gorgeous choice for your front door as well. I am going to try to link it here.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mamorella's beautiful door

I think a dark grey roof and blue door and shutters would be lovely! I also think dark grey would fade more gracefully than black might.

As far as the neighbor goes, I think just using a somewhat different blue for the shutters and doors would eliminate any copying worries.

I second or third the great suggestion for a charcoal gray roof and similar color shutters. I would use a glossy Chinese red for the front door, and would also paint your steps --risers white and treads gray (lighter than the shutters/roof) or vice versa--- and would paint the finials on the newel posts a glossy black. Then I would take lights on either side of the door off amd paint them black, and ditch the tiny house number in favor of a black oval rimmed in brass with brass numbers. And get a pretty brass door knocker!

I agree with is k s w l said above.

Dark gray roof, blue door and shutters, black sidelights:

Agree....charcoal gray roof. I think I would also add shutters to the first floor windows. You could do almost any colors for the shutters and door...green, blue, gray, burgundy, black... Replace lights with something that will go with new color scheme....nickel,ORB, etc. you could also experiment with a different color for the railing and steps once the the shutter/door colors are determined. I think your house is really pretty!

Oh wow you guys are awesome! We moved into this house about 8 years ago, did some stuff to begin with but then I got discouraged and lost interest - now the roof *has* to be replaced so it's forcing me to tackle this, and you all are making me feel so inspired! Thank you!

And thanks so much suero for the pic!! That's so cool. I wish I knew how to edit photos like that! Is there an online tool for that?

I like that shade of blue for a door but not so much for the shutters, though I suppose if I go blue on shutters and doors it'd need to be the same. I also really liked the blue door holly-kay linked to, but again I don't think it'd work for the shutters. I'm surprised though at how good the dark roof looks! On my screen it looks almost black and not too harsh like I thought. And wow the lights look so much better black!

Hmmm... like the idea of dark gray roof and shutters and red door too. Classic.

Looking through that thread i linked to, I like the look of these two the best:

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/1295/pic225.jpg
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/8548/pic241.jpg

So I def like the darker roof better - there was a lot of light gray photos in that thread too. Though if I do a dark gray roof, blue shutters and doors, black accents (lights, street numbers), white guttering and windows, cream siding... isn't that too many colours?

Gonna see if I can dig out the roof colour brochure my roofer gave me...

@joaniepoanie - Glad you mentioned the shutters on the bottom window. I've wondered this over the years - feels weird to have a front window without the shutters, but the bottom window is so much wider than the two narrow tops, that I wonder if adding shutters to it would just ruin the balance a bit? Plus make the space around the window too crowded? Still, it's a bit odd as it is...

Blue shutters also on the lower window, red door.

Hi Potinky,

I think the darker charcoal (but not black) roof would be perfect for your home. I also think gloss black shutters with either a high gloss ox blood or Chinese blue door would be great. I don't think you need shutters on the bottom though. I, as well as some purist here, believe that if they wouldn't be used for true shuttering purposes, then shutters should not be used. So in your case, each shutter would have to be the width of each half of the window. I hope this is making sense. Long day so thoughts aren't coming to me as they should. Many here would suggest perhaps a window box below the window for that touch of color on the bottom floor as would I. I would paint it the same color as the shutters on the upper floor. All of us understand how hard these decisions can be. I too am trying to work through a shutter decision myself!

Shannon

Oh, I like the window box idea!

@suero - thanks for the pic! I think the shutters look quite good on the bottom. Better than I thought they would.

@louisanapurchase - I've heard the argument before about the width of the window and being usable, and on one hand I agree, but on the other, these are obviously not real shutters so does it really matter? But a window box in the shutter colour would look lovely so maybe that's the way to go. The shrubs in the front of the house were pruned in the fall but by mid-summer the dogwood will be huge again and blocking half the window. I think I really need to get rid of it (and some of the other shrubs planted there that get too crowded though don't cover the window), but I love dogwoods so much! :( Still, it's for the greater good, I suppose...

A friend pointed out that she thinks of my house as light yellow and the pic here doesn't really show much tinge of yellow. I don't see the house as light yellow but she's not the only one who's made that comment, so I want to be aware of the yellow factor. I'd say in some lights the house looks more like the colour in this pic

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/1295/pic225.jpg

Does that affect your opinion of what colour roof/shutters/door?

With a creamier color siding, I like dark gray shutters.

Oooh thanks so much suero! I think I am sold on the dark gray roof/shutters/flower box with red door idea. Woo hoo! So exciting! :)