I hear you sounding like you may have some regrets, please don't. You have a lovely looking home and your choices were just fine. Wait until the spring and then do the door and bench and reevaluate.

I'd edit. No shutters. Redistribute color (white is a color too) so it makes more sense from a wayfinding, organization point of view.

Paint the band the same yellow as body. Paint the garage doors the same yellow. Paint the front door and side lights aubergine/eggplant.

Well we know that white band bugs us so either painting the band the same yellow or painting the gables white are definite options. Painting the gables would have to wait until Spring, but we could easily paint one of the bands to see what it does. Teacat - thanks for all the suggestions! We've thought about taking that tree out and turning into a patio, but I love that tree from the inside. Our dining room table is there and we frequently have birds in the tree that we can see while we eat. But I could work around that.
yayagal - Thank you. :) I really have learned a lot from this and do regret some things, but just need to move forward but really appreciate your post a lot.
funcolors - what do you mean when you say redistribute the white? Do shutters in white or gables or? Eggplant sounds very nice.

Oh, and I love the bronze fixtures idea!

I totally agree with funcolors-- paint the band and the garage yellow. I'd want to wait until that's been done to weigh in on shudders.. but in my mind's eye, I could see white shutters.

I've always wanted a deep aubergine door-- so I get excited by the thought. At the very least, add a painted bench (aubergine) with potted plants.. that would let you to test the color.

How about this? Note: Please pretend the lower window surrounds are the same color as house and the lower white-ish color is close to garage color. The front door is a dark dark teal. I also added a brick entry.I would change the landscape along house front.

{{!gwi}}

Thank you, jterrilynn! I like the different entryway - definitely going to change door color and will eventually change entryway next Spring possibly making bigger to incorporate section by tree. I still like the yellow on bottom but appreciate seeing a different perspective! I totally agree on the landscaping. We tried to not block any light to the bottom windows, but it truly is boring and doesn't add much.

After driving around for months and taking pics of house colors I like I settled on a yellow house brown roof, with white trim and black shutters. I get lots of complements. Your house looks great and its normal to second guess yourself after such a big project. Give your self a well diserved pat on the back instead;) With your color yellow I think a med. to meddark brown trim right on the roofline then follow threw with that color on shutters to give the windows more structure.Add some bronze or darker fixtures and large pots in the same bronze or brown shade right where the small green pots are and maybe a few smaller ones on the steps. Follow threw with a large dark brownish rock on the river rock right at the corner of the driveway and everything would tie together really nicely. You can use paper taped to the house to mock up shutters if noone here can do it for you on the computer. I also think longer shutters on the two higher windows with window boxs might also be a good option to give those windows a more balanced look

funcolors - what do you mean when you say redistribute the white? Do shutters in white or gables or? Eggplant sounds very nice.

Exterior color should be placed with the purpose to organize. White is the color of the trim. So, what is it doing running thru the middle of the field color, the yellow. It doesn't belong there. Same with the garage door. Why is it white. It's not trim. Which is why it should be yellow with white trim around the door. Sometimes it works out that the garage door can be the same as the trim color -- it all depends on the house.

This is where/when a color wheel is actually useful. Violet, like eggplant, is the technically correct solution to round out the color scheme you have going on. Brown is really dark orange. Deconstructed you have dark orange roof and yellow-orange/yellow body to work with. Adding a color from the violet hue family will make it a complementary / split complementary color scheme.

Red, rust, terra cotta are other options for front door/accessories - analogous.

LLmick, you are welcome! I have a yellow house with an eggplant door and it works well. For your house I was thinking something a little closer to an Analogous scheme would look nice. To me, with your style house regular rules can be shifted a bit in order to trick the eye into seeing a balance of light and dark but ultimately to zero in on a main focal (door). You have a lovely home and I look forward to seeing the finished product.

What about something like this..............would like to see a gable at the peak of the roof and on the peak of the garage roof at the front of the house. The white strip across the front of the house and the garage is throwing me and I would paint it the same as the siding. Garage door yellow as others have said and I like the idea of the rust front door. Very nice house and setting!

Funcolors - thank you for the info on colors! Very helpful!jterrilynn - thank you for the nice post, and my husband and I were just talking about a cedar colored door as an option which would be in the rust range.
door1 - My husband and I went to get paint that matched, and we are going to paint the white band (scary!) to see if that helps. We used to have the fake vents before we had our siding done and so we may put them back up but not sure with the vertical siding now whether we would like it. Hubby isn't convinced on the yellow on the garage door, but I think it would look nice. He is VERY stuck on trying white shutters so hopefully they have one we can buy and hold up to the house or use paper as someone suggested just to see what it looks like. Thank you for the work up you did. I like the landscaping! Oh and I went to Home Depot today and found some bronze outdoor lights we could get but may look at Lowes tomorrow. But do like the bronze a lot.

Funcolors - thank you for the info on colors! Very helpful!jterrilynn - thank you for the nice post, and my husband and I were just talking about a cedar colored door as an option which would be in the rust range.
door1 - My husband and I went to get paint that matched, and we are going to paint the white band (scary!) to see if that helps. We used to have the fake vents before we had our siding done and so we may put them back up but not sure with the vertical siding now whether we would like it. Hubby isn't convinced on the yellow on the garage door, but I think it would look nice. He is VERY stuck on trying white shutters so hopefully they have one we can buy and hold up to the house or use paper as someone suggested just to see what it looks like. Thank you for the work up you did. I like the landscaping! Oh and I went to Home Depot today and found some bronze outdoor lights we could get but may look at Lowes tomorrow. But do like the bronze a lot.

I think the color is nice, and I like the vertical bit of siding. I think you could spruce up the entry and leave the rest alone and be fine. But if we're splitting hairs, I think what is unsettling to my eye is that the scale is different on the two gables. The one near the street is a more "typical" scale with the horizontal trim at the ceiling level (tops of windows a few feet below the trim line). But on the two-storey side, the horizontal line is likely not at the true ceiling, given the location of the windows, flush below it. Are the ceilings vaulted in that section?

I don't know that there is a "fix" for that other than eliminating the white stripe on that particular gable. Maybe someone can photoshop that out so you can see what it looks like.

Your house looks very nice. I think it's always a good idea to let yourself get used to something new, before you make any changes

I like the white trim. I think yellow and white has a crisp, clean look. Tan or brown, with yellow always looks muddy to me. The white band also looks fine once you see the picture of the whole house. Having the other band on the garage gable makes a difference. I also like the white garage door. A huge yellow door just seems wrong.

I think the suggestion of a cinnamon color (or the cedar) for the door would be stunning. The darker reddish brown would compliment the roof color without muddying things up. I would give it a try for the shutters too.

jakabedy - I think you figured out what was bugging us about that band too because I like it on the front of the garage and we have it on the back of the house in two places too. True, nothing to be done except paint the band yellow. We have the paint to paint it yellow, but once we do that we will have to do it around the house in the other 3 places where there are white bands, which is unfortunate because I like them there. So now I don't know...
jamie81 - Thank you, and I keep telling my hubby maybe we just aren't used to it since it's so different. That white band is something most new houses are doing around here for some reason, but ours is the only one on the street so it looks a little out of place I think. I think I'll leave the garage door. Again, most houses here have the white garage unless they have browns in it and then the garage is the light tan of the trim color. Plus, my husband said no way. :) Now I need to find a paint color for the door area.

Here is a picture of the side/back of house. The right side of the pic shows the back of the garage.

And here is a pic of the back. Sorry it's so dark.

Here is another take...my computer is going wonky so this is the best I could do. I gave up trying to add a door color.

I don't think the white band looks out of place, especially as you see this kind of trim feature more & more on houses (I'm looking at my neighbor's remodel right now -- white trim bands are a prominent design element). Your trim looks like a logical separation between the wall siding & the gable siding. It makes visual sense & it belongs. I think you should live with it for awhile before putting all that work into painting it out.

I think the house looks nice the way it is, including the white trim board.

I also really like jterrilyn's mockup with roof-toned vertical siding, lower level, and main level shutters.

She hasn't told us what color she would make the garage door, though - ?

Or, here is another... this is the process of elimination lol! It�s easier to imagine the white on the two story part gone than for me to draw it in with the wrong yellow.

Here it is with one of the bands painted the exact same as the body, so that you can get an idea of what it looks like before you paint.

And with an eggplant/violet door.

jterrilyn - Thank you! It's funny because I had originally wanted cedar shake on that part with wood shutters, but the builder said it would be a lot more money, so we didn't do it. It's really nice to see it that way though.

myfoursquare - Thank you so so much. My husband is about to kill me because I've called him 3 times today saying let's paint it and see, then no, then yes. :) Your modified pic shows it so well. I love it on the face, but don't know if I'm willing to give up the white band on the other 3 areas of the house, but now we can talk about it without painting it first so thank you!! And the eggplant door looks better than I thought it would. Was going to look for more cinnamon but now will contemplate both.

I have a white louvered shutter leaning against one of the windows right now. I'll go get another tomorrow to see what the whole window looks like and post a pic if you all don't mind. I think hubby wants the batten board shutter, but the only one in stock here is the louvered so we are just seeing IF we should.

Grey! or maybe that color combo has already come and gone..
but a brownish grey would be cool and shutters aren't too hard to repaint when the trend is over.

I think I would have painted the gable white and added a "vent" as teacats suggested, but I am also realizing that this is not my kind of architecture and not my part of the country so it's not what I'm used to seeing. I feel like a big yellow box is squishing another yellow box into the ground and that bothers me. My inclination is to try to pull the eye up and pull the focus away from that area. I don't know if that's "right" or "wrong" but that and landscaping would be my thoughts.

I do like the purple door -- very much.

lascatx - I do like what jterrilynn did with the bottom making it different like with rock work, but that isn't in the budget right now especially since we just had this done. But yes, it is a big box on top of a smaller one. Just not sure how to deal with that with landscaping without blocking light to the basement which we use quite a bit.

sprout26 - grayish brown sounds like it could work, but we had a grayish white trim color at first, and it just looked dirty next to the white window casings, so I don't know?

I like the white bands, but I think the bottom portion under the large gable is throwing it off for me. Looking at it with the darker in the photoshop it makes more sense, but. Not sure paint could accomplish the same as the brick/stone.

I'm also thinking you need some landscaping with height to break up the large gable expanse.

I would paint the garage door yellow. Not exactly a feature you want to have stick out. As yellow it would blend in more and not be as visible.

LLM -- I don't really know what I would do either. It's a tough one for me and something I'd have to look at and stew over. It's so different from anything I'm used to -- we don't even have basements here. I wasn't trying to be critical -- hope it didn't come across that way.

lyfia - I like the idea of painting the garage, but my husband is saying no. I think I'm throwing too much at him right now so will bide my time. I agree about the landscaping, but we don't have very much room between the house and the driveway - perhaps a tall bush or a very small ornamental tree or maybe that would look bizarre there.

lascatx - I didn't think you were trying to be critical - I was just saying it like it is too. :) I appreciate your comments. There are quite a few trilevels on our street mixed with more houses with a lot more angles and curb appeal. We are getting snow right now so really will have time to figure out whether to paint the band.

We love the band painted, but it would definitely have to be done all around the house or it would look off, right?
I really appreciate everyone's comments and suggestions. I was feeling sick to my stomach and just so upset, but I honestly feel fine since posting here to know there are things I can do and that it's not as bad as I was thinking originally. Thank you everyone.

I don't think painting the garage the same color as the house is the right answer. Maybe pull a light brown from the roof. And some tall evergreens in the center of the house will break up the yellow. I like the white band. Don't change that.

My photoshop skills are sub-par, but this is kind of what I mean.

You could always paint that lower section in a muted color of the roof and paint the door in a more vibrant color of the roof and paint the garage door either the same color of the house or one shade lighter.

Sorry I cannot get this picture to resize...here's another try. If this doesn't work I give up.

I like the white trim and would leave it as is and pick a nice color for the door.

I agree with nosoccermom. I know I already said this, but the yellow and white look very nice. If you want something different, I would change the door. Easy to do, and pretty easy to undo if you don't like it.

Changing the landscaping will make a difference. I don't think tall shrubs between those windows is the answer, you still want to keep things in scale.

Something low to the ground under those windows and then something with more substance in the middle. Not tall, just more substantial. Maybe an evergreen shrub of some kind, or something with colorful foliage. Something that will draw the eye without sticking out like a sore thumb. An accent of some kind. But not bigger than the windows.

Changing up your landscaping is easier and cheaper than redoing your house, which looks really nice. Enjoy it!!

Here ya go jamie81, I took the tree out. I now know exactly what color I would do for the front door...RAISIN!I could not get the right color on photobucket because it comes out either tto bright or too dark.

You know, jamie81, you're right about the tall bushes, I think. After I've looked at my picture a bunch more, it looks like the house has a funny little mustache. :-)

I also agree that the house looks really nice! I like the color and white band. A pretty door color and some landscaping will go a long way and the garage door can always be painted anytime in the future.

The raisin door looks very nice jterrilynn! I tried to pick a slate blue because my house is also yellow with white trim and the PO painted the door a very pretty slate blue color and put purple plants out front. It's such a cheerful and pretty color palette. I'm glad they knew what they were doing. :-)

No shutters. A tree in the front corner yard to fill in the open space and also it could mask the driveway. Maybe window boxes under the 2nd story windows. That is a very pretty house and I like it just the way it is.

I'd keep all of the white except the band across the two story front section. I would not paint the white bands on any other section of the house.

I would do the white shutters on the front windows (except the picture window) because I think the more white you add the prettier the yellow becomes. If you would be willing to plant and care for window boxes, I'd put them under the upstairs windows. I'd use substantial decorative supports to make the windows look as tall as possible.

When I first saw the house what jumped out at me was how out of balance the windows are on that two story section. Whether you use window boxes or not, an affordable option is to install a wall hugging white vinyl pergola or trellis that goes all the way up to the top of the second story windows. You can either grow real vines or you can thread grape vine through the trellis, with or without lights. You desperately need plant life across the front of the house and you have more room to go up than out!

Thank you for all the comments! Seeing the garage door painted in really looks nice to me. I'm going to try and work on my husband about that especially since I could do that myself. I like the idea of raisin, eggplant or cinnamon door. I need to go look at paint chips and if I don't like one, how easy to just paint it again, so excited about that. It's hard to see in the picture, but we have 3 rose bushes that are in the back, then 3 fairly large low-to-the ground evergreen bushes in the middle. Then in the front in between the bushes we have low little bushes that I can't remember the names of right now. I think it might be a good idea to take the middle evergreen out and put something more substantial in like some of you thought. The rose bushes are trimmed for winter, but they can get quite large. We have 8 inches of snow this morning so I suppose things are on hold. I still want to post a picture with the white shutters held up to see what you all think. Not a good time to take the door off to paint either, but I will definitely post a pic once we do!

Here is what it looks like with white shutters and yellow band. I think when the weather is nicer, you should just start with painting the door something other than white, and you may find you don't need to do much else. It really is a nice home.

It's not so much that the white shutters look bad but my eye automatically shoots up to that part of the house and stays there. I think maybe you should get the door, walkway and landscaping done and then "maybe" revisit the shutter idea if you are still not happy. I do think a nice brown with a tiny bit of red would look nice on the step area.

I'm not so good at these things but I don't like the fake vent on the gable. It makes the house look like it was shot in the forehead. I do like the trim on the gable painted the same color as the house.

myfoursquare - Thank you again! It's way easier to see your way than having them tipped up by the windows on the bottom. I really don't know if I like them. I'm kind of on the fence. Hubby likes your pic, but he also likes the white band with it which would maybe be too much. I think we should wait too until I can get to the door. So helpful that you did that - we really appreciate it, thank you!!!

jterrilynn - I agree. I'm hoping to get out today to see if any places have any nice pots left. We have so much snow here in Montana that I might just stay home today. Thanks for your feedback. It really helps.

dedtired - HA! That made me laugh! We aren't going to do the vents. We did have them before the house was resided and I just got tired of them and was happy to see them go even though they added a little "something" to the house. Thanks for the feedback on the trim.

We can't take the door off in this weather to paint it in the garage (it's 6 degrees here this morning why do I live here?!)so it may be awhile before we can paint and post a pic, but I will do it.

myfoursquare - Thank you again! It's way easier to see your way than having them tipped up by the windows on the bottom. I really don't know if I like them. I'm kind of on the fence. Hubby likes your pic, but he also likes the white band with it which would maybe be too much. I think we should wait too until I can get to the door. So helpful that you did that - we really appreciate it, thank you!!!

jterrilynn - I agree. I'm hoping to get out today to see if any places have any nice pots left. We have so much snow here in Montana that I might just stay home today. Thanks for your feedback. It really helps.

dedtired - HA! That made me laugh! We aren't going to do the vents. We did have them before the house was resided and I just got tired of them and was happy to see them go even though they added a little "something" to the house. Thanks for the feedback on the trim.

We can't take the door off in this weather to paint it in the garage (it's 6 degrees here this morning why do I live here?!)so it may be awhile before we can paint and post a pic, but I will do it.

I realy like myfoursquar's rendition - paint the white band yellow like the rest of the house, with white shutters. I'm OK with the white garage door with white shutters.

I think the problem is the white trim, it is too stark white. It should be a nice coordinating cream - vanilla color. Then a nice touch would be a MUTED deep orange tone door.

We did change the light fixtures to a bronze, and I really like that. I bought two very large pots that are bronze that I will put out soon, but is snowed here today! My husband wants to try white shutters, and they have them here at Home Depot so thought we would try to tack them up somehow. So should I just buy two sets for the two windows on the 2nd story main part of the house and leave the rest of the windows like foursquare had in the photoshopped pic? I like how the pic looks, but would it look unfinished to not do all the other windows? Thank you!