mclarke,

I wanted to thank you again for your detailed thoughts on the paver stones. I will try to match up the pavers with my brick, siding, door, window trim etc with a band like you suggested of a solid colour similar to the steps.

Carol

The steps are fine, the siding is fine.
Don't even worry one more minite about it, it looks fine.
On to the next project....

I do realize this is a first world problem, butterfly4U and they do look adequate together. But in real life the steps and siding do not look terrific together and we were hoping for terrific after all the expense and careful choosing. I just couldn't capture the clash with the camera for GW posters to see.

Carol

I'm looking on an ipad and see no pink or green, just shades of gray and grayish beige with brick. Do agree with using all the shades in your paver design, and using as much curve as possible when laying out the paths.

A factory finish on a garage door is ideal but it's rare that the finish will out last the actual door.

Garage door manufacturers have color specifications to follow that involve LRV. If you choose a paint color that is within the specified LRV range, you should not have any worries about voiding warranties. Step outside of their specs, and then it is true any warranty is voided.

You should check.

You have several options to start adding more of the same colors from the palette you have going on.

Shore up the color on that garage door - that's a relatively easy and inexpensive job.

And I definitely like the idea of the multi-colored pavers - another relatively easy job that will help pull the whole thing together.

I think your solution is going to be about being consistent with the siding color and the step color and repeating both colors as often as you can.

I have a saying about using desaturated colors like in your siding and your steps. If you wouldn't use those colors, red and green, together in their full saturated state, then you shouldn't use them together desaturated.

But here's the exception (nothing about color is set in stone) some people DO choose to use fully saturated red and green on exteriors.

So, that might be another angle to look to for additional ideas and solutions - take a look at full-on red and green exteriors for clues about how the curb appeal comes together.

FYI, sealing the stone will not change the texture or make it more slippery as it sinks into the stone. It will help prevent staining, and change the stone to look like it does when it's wet all the time.

Carol -

I like your driveway pavers! They work well with your current colors. How close is the driveway paver color to your new step color? Looks pretty close on my monitor. I think you should leave your driveway as is, and then use SOME of the extra pavers in your new walkway. Maybe you could use the driveway pavers as your walkway border. That will help link your driveway to your steps.

Looks like you're going to need at least one step-up in your walkway, because the elevation changes. Any thoughts about that?

You wrote: I had never thought to use two colours on the garage. I am not sure about the contrast and don't want to draw anymore attention to the garage.

One of the reasons the garage demands so much attention NOW is because it is such a large area of one color. If you break the color up a little, it will be less massive. It will blend in more. You don't need much of a color contrast....

Here's a photo of a house. Imagine the garage door all one color... It would demand much more attention because it would be such a large mass of color. By breaking up the colors, the designers have integrated the large door into the overall visual impact of the house.

In terms of landscape, a couple of low dark green yews would help drive the steps back toward neutral as would using your dark green trim color on the deck. But this might drive your siding pinker and you may end up with a pinky and greeny house, which I like (love brick + sage). I think your trim looks much greener and less neutral than your steps.

This post was edited by robotropolis on Sun, Aug 17, 14 at 11:08

I think everything looks very nice together and really am not seeing too much of a pink tone. Great before and after! I do agree that painting your garage door could be a positive change. It would look nice painted either the color of the siding or the darker door.

Thanks everyone for your great ideas. You have given me lots to think about.

I am going to see how well our current pavers match with the siding, steps, bricks etc. I will shop for some new pavers and see what kind of plan I can come up with using some old and new.

I am going to try to find an exact match for the siding colour. I will paint the garage door the same colour as the siding.

I am going to photo shop your ideas such as a two toned garage door, different colours for the railing. DH is the only one who has a wee bit of Photo Shop skills and he is doing rough-in plumbing at this point. Perhaps he will have time tonight to do some mock ups for me that I can post.

I don't think the sealer on the steps are going to improve things. Yesterday, it was raining and it struck me that wet the steps looked worse with the siding. I will double check with hosing them down.

Not sure if the grey trim is contributing to the problem. The flashing, soffits, gutters, etc is likely green grey, but wood trim around windows might be a different grey (I will check the undertones of this). Don't think we will be able to paint the wood window trim at this point (too extensive of a job due to needing scaffolds).

Does anyone have any thoughts regarding the light fixture colours?

Carol

Here are a few more photos. The first one shows the siding and steps together.

The next one shows the garage door with some siding boards placed against it to help show what having a garage door painted the same colour as siding will look like.

The last one shows some of the old pavers I have available together with a piece of siding, steps, brick, door trim and window trim. The colours range in the pink/red hues and grey hues. We don't have anything that relates much to the door, except the door gives off a red hue as it is stained a browny red. Also, I don't think any of the pavers look that awesome with the steps.

Any more thoughts after seeing these images? I will post Photo Shop pictures hopefully late tonight. I appreciate your help.

Carol

I think that they don't really clash that badly. Think about if the steps were just basic concrete. The color wouldn't necessarily go with most of the houses where people just have concrete steps/walkways. No one ever says - wow the siding doesn't go with the concrete! It's a neutral a non noticeable part of most houses.

I think you are much more aware of the steps than anyone else would ever be. That said, if they really bother you - I'd replace the steps. That seems to be the least amount of effort than repainting the whole house.

I actually like the pavers with your steps and door and trim. Not matchy matchy which is boring, but coordinated enough to look well together. I'd paint the garage door to match the house, plant some evergreen bushes around the walkway and then see if you even notice it. A few pots on the steps filled with annuals in summer and evergreens in winter and the steps will fade into the background and never be noticed.

I think the house will be amazing when it's all done. The gray railings will be so cool. Love the remodel, and what you've done!

Hi caroleoh,

Thanks for your encouragement. Together with the others on this post that are saying it is not that bad, I am starting to feel better about it. Replacing the steps would be a huge cost. The steps and particularly the large landing step were both expensive to buy, costly to ship to our site and costly to install. It could be cheaper to paint the siding. I am not sure which would cost more.

Glad you like the pavers and thanks for your landscaping ideas. Good to know you like the idea of grey for the railing -- we did photo shop different railing ideas a few months ago and a grey that was the same as the window trim looked best.

Carol

If you plant hostas in your front yard, their beauty will distract from the issue that is bothering you!

Cheers!

Don B.

Ok well I have to agree with Don on that one. ;)

Thanks Don and Robotropolis. Of course, here in Canada the growing season is short. Perhaps plantings will solve the issue for 5 months of the year.

Carol

mclarke and others,

I got DH to use Photo Shop to add dark grey contrasting colour to the garage. Not sure, what do you all think?

Carol

This post was edited by OntarioMom on Sun, Aug 17, 14 at 23:00

Mclarke,

In terms of the path you are imagining, if I use the old pavers to repair the driveway, and then use some for the border of the path, what colours should I look for for the interior of the path? Or could I use the colours I have for the interior of the path, and just buy a solid colour for the exterior border of the path (then what solid colour)? I also have some pavers that form circles as we used to have 3 large circles for the landing in front of the steps.

I will attempt to get DH to re-photo shop the grey lines on the garage door tomorrow with a non shadowy picture (photo was taken too late this afternoon).

Any thoughts on the finish/colour for the coach light fixtures?

Carol

OOOOOH!

I absolutely LOVE the photoshopped garage door! Suddenly all the geometry of your house comes together! The rectangles of the garage door echo the rectangles of the window trim, the railings above the garage, even the bump-out-bay to the right. Do you see it? And the colors -- YES! It all comes together!

Okay, give me a moment to calm down, lol...

(Don and Robot, it's nice to see you visiting from the hosta forum! Every house looks better with hosta, lol...)

Carol, thanks for posting the photo of the pavers with the siding and the brick, door trim, window trim, etc. I think you have already done a remarkable job bringing all these colors into cohesion. It is going to be beautiful.

Adding colors to the paver design? Yes, I would add some from the darker end of your spectrum -- including the door color -- and some of the true brick color... so that you have, in your walkway, a mix of ALL your colors. I think it will bring everything together.

Remember, when you're walking, your eyes are always absorbing the ground where your feet are traveling. As you approach your door, your eye will be seeing a lovely mix of all the colors of your exterior.

I think your house is beautiful, and the choices you have made so far are tremendous. You just need a little finishing touch to bring it all together... then you need to step back to the street, let your eyes go out of focus, and let it all wash over you.

I think you'll be thrilled by the finished picture.

mclarke,

Thanks ever so much for your great ideas and encouragement. I like the garage door with the two tones, but DH is not 100% convinced. We are going to re-do the Photo Shop with a fresh shadow free picture and re-post. Thanks for the clarification on the pavers. I will look for rich red (brick colour) and deep brown/red (door colour) to add to my collection. I was thinking about using a more solid grey paver for the pathway border with the multi-coloured interior. Hope that fits your vision.

All:

I hope you will chime in and let me know what you think of the mclarke's brainwave of the two toned garage. We have posted an image on Sunday at 21:01. Please give me your votes on this creative idea.

Carol

I was not convinced, or even tempted by the thought of a two tone garage door, but I think it looks fabulous! mclarke is right that it really brings everything together. The colors, the geometry and balance are wonderful now!

Thanks olychick for your vote. I was surprised how much I like it too. Visualizing is hard for me. Here is an updated picture without the late day shadows.

What do others think about the two colour tones on the garage door as shown below?

What colour finish should I be looking for for the coach lights?

Are the panels on the garage door the same color as the siding? I know it's photoshop, so assume some variation will show. It doesn't look the same, but if it were, I'd really like it.

Hi olychick,

I agree. I wish DH knew how to make the taupe panels on the garage door the same as the siding with his method of Photo Shop. He says he doesn't know how to do that. So, the garage door is still the original Garaga taupe colour. We plan to paint it to exactly match the siding with the elevated portions grey to match the window trim and railing.

Carol

Hm, I'm not crazy about the two-tone garage door. Makes the garage and the door a very prominent feature. And it emphasizes all the straight lines.

Hi Nosoccermom...

I agree that there are a lot of straight lines... but Carol plans on creating a curved walkway with circular landing pads, which will add a bit of balance.

Carol, are you a windowbox person? I wonder how that lower window on the right would look with a windowbox...

I have no suggestions about the coachlights. There are other people here with much more expertise in that area.

Thanks for your vote, nosoccermom. Any more votes on the two-toned garage?

mclarke, I think that lower right window will have bushes under it. I kind of imagine there would not be tons of room for a window box, nor sun in that location due to that mature birch tree. I had thought of having pots of flowers on the deck which would be seen through the clear deck material.

Carol

I like the 2-tone garage. I'd be tempted to make both the colors a slight bit darker.

Thanks andee for your input. The colour of the main body of the garage will be darker -- it will be the colour of the siding (we just didn't know how to change the colour in the Photo Shop picture). Do you mean to go darker than the siding for the garage and darker than the grey in the window trim?

Carol

I didn't catch the part where the garage door is a different color than the siding. Since the siding and trim are well-coordinated, then hopefully the 2-tone garage will be too. In Photoshop, isn't there a little eye-dropper tool that you can touch onto an existing color to "pick-up" that color and then use it in your palette to color in another space?

Hi andee,

Actually DH is using Corel Draw paint functions to add details to an existing house picture. He isn't actually using Photo Shop. I just used that term as sort of a generic term for altering a photo. I wish we knew how to use Photo Shop proper with all of its tools.

I was curious if anyone had an opinion on re-painting just the front of the siding with an ever so slightly different taupe with a wee bit less red in it. (as close a match as possible but say one drop less red -- I would need to experiment lots). Has anyone even heard of tweaking the shade of a house from one side of the house to another?

Carol

I think almost every program has the same little eyedropper. You can even do it in Microsoft Paint.

Everyone: I think the biggest issue we are having is the garage door as mentioned by more than one of you!!! Once DH used Corel Paint to colour the garage door the same as the siding all looked so much better to me! Maybe now that there is more siding colour (siding plus the garage area) it over powers the step colours more. I did not realize the impact the off colour garage door was having. Can't wait to paint it for real.

Now I need you to vote on whether you like the garage with one colour of two.

Option A (note the garage trim has been roughly drawn in)

Option B (two tones)

Please vote on these two options.

Also, does anyone have an opinion on lighting fixture colours.

P.S. @andee -- thanks to your tip DH was able to change the colour of the garage with the Corel Paint program.

I like the two tone garage door. It helps to blend the door into the house design rather than stand out on its own.

Would you photo shop the garage in all the darker color, also?

@mnwsgal: Thanks for your vote and rationale

lizbeth-gardener: Can you explain further what you are suggesting. Currently option A shows the garage door Corel Painted in with the same colour as the siding. Are you suggesting the garage should have a darker colour than the siding?

Carol

I just wanted to see the whole garage door in the darker color shown on the option B where the panels of the garage door are the siding color with the trim boards a darker color. Not saying it will be better-just wanted to see it painted that way before I vote.

Thanks lizbeth. I think this is what you wanted to see. Let's call it option C

Thanks for doing that-option C is too dark for me. When I look at the house with the one color garage door (option A), I see the house as a whole. When I look at the house with the two colors (option B), my eye goes to the garage door and then I see the house. The two tone also makes all the squares/straight lines more prominent. I like the one color better-the same as the siding-Option A JMO

edited to add all of the option letters for clarity.

This post was edited by lizbeth-gardener on Tue, Aug 19, 14 at 10:37

I like option 1 or 2...I know that's not too helpful, but they both look great. I don't think you could go wrong.

And I really think as you get used to the steps you won't think of them as clashing as much as you did at first. The house is so beautiful, that I just think they are not showing up to others as they do to you.

The garage door should be the same color as the body of the house. Whether you choose to use the house trim color to bump out the details is up to you.

Black for fixtures. At this point I'd focus on repeating the same colors whenever, where ever possible. Black fixtures because the last thing you need is to introduce another "color" in the mix. I'd anchor what you do have going on with black details.

Now that the garage is painted the same as the siding, it makes all the difference. And I can even see better now why you do not like the pink/green clash. But somehow the massive amount of garage color reduces the clash's magnitude. The darker color on the garage brings more clash (to me).

I vote for A. And if it is too much, you can always put in the second color later without a lot more hassle.

@ lizbeth-gardener: Thanks for your vote and for explaining why you voted the way you did.

@olychick: Thanks for the reassurance that the house will look good no matter which way we paint the garage.

@funcolors: Thanks for your advice. So, when you say black for the light fixtures, do you mean true black or oil rubbed bronze black. The door handle was oil rubbed bronze, but it looks black.

@andee: Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the house. I was surprised how much of a difference painting the garage door the same as the siding colour made too. You are right we could start with painting the garage the siding colour and then deciding if we want to do the trim the grey.

Any more votes on the garage or thoughts on the light fixtures?

Carol

Use the door handle as a guide for other finishes.

Don't add any more colors than what you already have and repeat the ones you do have.

ditto what funcolors says about finishes.

Thanks daisychain01. Do you have an opinion on the two options for garage door?

I really didn't think I'd like the door outlined, but it does have some appeal.

Is painting the siding now out completely? If you do paint the siding, I'd paint it to match the colour the garage door is now. I can't justify suggesting to do it, but only if you were doing it anyways.

daisychain,

Thanks for your opinion on the garage door. Painting all the siding on all four sides of the house would be cost prohibitive (there is tons of siding on the other elevations unlike the front side). We will not paint the whole house for 10 years when it needs it anyway and then we can tweak the colour.

The only painting I was considering now, was to paint the north side of the house a very, very similar shade with a touch less red. The east, west and south sides of the house look great. It is only the front/north side that looks pinkish.

Carol

Ontariomom, I just painted the wood siding on our cottage and realized as I was painting it, that the north side was painted a different shade than the rest. It has been at least 10 years since it was last painted and I never noticed. It was only when I held up paint samples to try to determine what colour I wanted to paint it that I noticed. So, I'm guessing if you did go that route, it would not be noticeable. However, I do like the solution of painting the garage rather than the siding.

daisychain01,

That is very interesting -- thanks so much for sharing. What general colour was your cottage anyway?. Do you think in your case just one side faded more than the other. I wondered how noticeable it would be to have a slightly different colour on the north end, because every orientation hits the light differently anyway.

No matter what we will paint the garage as I do think after playing with the house on the computer and adding the darker colour in Corel Paint the garage is certainly contributing to the issue.

So sounds like we will paint the garage, landscape (hard and plantings), re-evaluate and then see if we want to try a slightly different colour on the north side only.

Thanks!

Carol