It will be very difficult to pull off with everything in the room in medium values. You need lighter and darker values to be able to pull it off successfully. Your red could be one of the darker tones if you used a dark barn red that has some black in it. And one of your grays or tans could be the light tone. If everything is the same medium value, it will all look blah no matter what color you use.

Thanks sandyponder. I do like the idea of black/charcoal trim, but am a little hesitant to go that route. I really like your bold colors though. Good for you! My biggest concern about doing wood trim but keeping the white doors is getting it all finished and absolutely hating it. I really, really like the feel of timber frame homes and those with stained trim-lots of "wood warmth". If there was a way to attain that feel while still keeping all the other white, then I'm game for it. It's a big house, so replacing doors PLUS trim would get more costly than I want to spend at this point. I am getting a large semi sweet/dark chocolate colored area rug for the great room in a few days, so that will bring in some warmer color to the area. Does anyone have pics of white doors with stained/natural wood trim???

Another here who has both scaled down and clarified my decorating for the holidays. I realized a few years ago that 1) I don't even LIKE red and green(!) 2) living in subtropical Florida the entire classic theme of snowmen, reindeer, frosty whatever was completely irrelevant to our life 3) my passion in decorating and in life is to celebrate the natural beauty and grace of what *is* in this area, ie shells, driftwood, sand and the loveliness of what surrounds us. So...I went through my boxes of stuff collected almost at random through the years and tossed/gave away all of it. Then over the course of several post-holiday sale seasons I zeroed in on what I truly wanted. My colors for decorating are now silver and white-period. I had always done my tree (natural, thankyouverymuch, I had enough of those fakes growing up :), with tropical and nautical ornaments so that was already in place. But I switched from multicolored blinking lights-my husband used to call them my "eat at Joe's Diner" holiday lighting. Now it's clear lights that read white, along with only white/light colored ornaments, silver and glass balls and that is it. No tinsel, no green or red ornaments. Well, a very few special sentimental things like picture ornaments of my kids when they were young. But otherwise, silver, white and tropical tree. As for decorating, I several sparkly gift baskets with shells, one basket of pine cones with a pretty holiday bow on top, pillar candles with some white garlands, a basket spray painted white with glass ornaments heaped, a shell wreath at the front door and a hurricane candle with a garland on top of a silver runner on the dining room table. It's enough. As my daughter commented yesterday when I finished 'Mom, it looks so elegant and classy'. I also splurged this year on a bunch of half-price Bath and Body Works aromatherapy diffusers with holiday scents. So now in the evening I sit in my peaceful LR, watching my beautiful tree, surrounded by my serene and minimal decorating and inhaling the gentle scent of cinnamon, vanilla and balsam--yes I put in all those scents around the living area. And I love it! Ann

Hello Xtal, Thank you for your suggestions and feedback! And Roselee, thank you for sharing this. :) I wholeheartedly agree that the facade looks too new (I call it cartoonish). I'm not a fan of the stone that was selected and agree that if it had an older look it might blend in a little more. The original owner later added an enclosed courtyard to the side. I'm assuming he was unable to source the original stone because he used a completely different one. I prefer the look of that stone over the main house. He also added an arrow slit. :) Our "moat" is functional as it has french drains. I love the idea of planting Cypress trees between the windows but I'm afraid of the roots impeding drainage later on. I did plant a Brakelights Red Yucca in the center as well as three evenly spaced Pride of Barbados seedlings I grew on each side. The walls are so boring and I'm hoping the contrast of the reds and oranges give it some interest. I have thought about planting creeping fig under the turrets to help age it but I'm a bit gun shy after reading horror stories of ivy gone bad. I do love the look of it. Turret where I would plant the creeping fig (please ignore the impulse buy plants hiding along the wall, they are in pots): It's funny you mention using ponyfoot in the fountain. I had originally planted that but the deer kept it chewed down to stubs or would uproot the entire plant. I finally caved and planted Woolly Stemodia which they ignore. The Silver Ponyfoot is now coming back! I'd prefer the Ponyfoot but I'm afraid if I take out the Stemodia, the deer will return. I would love to see the green and silver Dichondra blowing in the wind. If you look closely, you'll see the ponyfoot mixed in with the Woolly Stemodia: Here's a closer up distorted pano of the house that shows the moat area a little better: I may seriously consider the creeping fig up the walls/turrets to help age it a bit. I have also considered repainting the window trim and the parapet walls (I think that's what you call the top?). Here's an overly adjusted realtor picture from when we bought the house. I kind of like the darker top... Ok, enough distraction and daydreaming! I need to gear up and get back out there while the weather is so nice. Thanks again for your observations! It really helps to hear honest feedback, opinions and ideas that could help me achieve the look I'm desiring. Take care - Joanna