That is very cool juliekcmo, thanks. Mtn, too funny. I've actually gone so far as to discuss whether I should go back to school and become an architect with an architect neighbour of mine. I'm not sure if my math is strong enough, and I'm not sure DH would approve at this particular juncture! But I'd love to. Yes, I just discovered the building forum, it is wonderful. I'm really impressed with the generosity and knowledge of the men/women there. Pal - maybe I could. It is a rural area, I'm not sure how much expertise there is around with plaster. Although my city is nearby, I live in a separate province from the cottage, and tradespersons from my province can't freely work in Quebec (where I'm building). But there must be someone, I will ask around. I have no idea at all how much more expensive that might be over drywall or pine board.

can you share a picture of the full front view of the home?

Thought I’d post an update. We decided to go with smooth hardy plank. I picked the stone: ElDorado York limestone. I wanted the stone that was in the linked picture up above but I can’t find anything like it in the manufactured stone options, and I have heard real stone costs so much more money so I was trying to stick to the less expensive manufactured stone . Anyway, here is what I am trying to decide between now. We decided to have our trim color Matched to our brown windows, and the only issue with that is that we found there are a lot of pinkish purple tones to the brown of our windows so it limits the paint colors we can choose for the body of the house. I wanted a darker, warmer color, but that is difficult with this specific trim color. My favorite colors so far were Benjamin Moore Kingsport gray, and Sherman Williams warm stone. My designer friend told me they both had too much gold in them, and not enough contrast for the trim color. She pointed me towards Sherwin Williams Keystone gray or Benjamin Moore elephant gray. Both were too llight for me. . I liked the Keystone gray better because it had more gold in it than elephant ear, but wanted it a little darker so I had them darken the Keystone gray to 125% (25% darker) and 150%. (50% darker) ( they left out the extra white when they did that ) Anyway, that’s where we are at. I think I have it narrowed down between 2 of them... the Keystone gray 125% (=25% darker) and 150% (50% darker). my designer friend still likes the original Keystone Gray (one on the right) because she says it gets too golden when it gets darker. I know these pictures won’t be very accurate because the white balance keeps changing depending on what light is hitting it. Here are pictures… from left to right looking at the picture is Benjamin Moore Kingsport gray (she says it's too golden for the tones in the trim), then Sherman Williams keystone gray 150% (50% darker), then 125% (25% darker) then just regular keystone gray on the right which is too light for me. Designer friend likes the lightest one on the right because she likes a lot of contrast between the trim and the body color but I don’t really like a lot of contrast since I like the look of stained wood. In the next few pictures, I have them labeled. BM equals Benjamin Moore Kingsport gray (which designer friend says is too dark and golden), then: 50 equals keystone gray 150% (50% darker), 25 equals keystone gray 125% ( 25% darker ), and then “ - “ equals regular Keystone Gray with no darkening. This next pic is Benjamin Moore Kingsport gray on the top, then the next two down are SW keystone grey 150% (50% darker), then the bottom two are SW keystone grey 125% (25% darker). And I forgot to label this one but the top and the very bottom are keystone gray, the next two in are 125% (25% darker), then the very middle one is 150% (50% darker). I did not paint the Benjamin Moore Kingsport gray on this wall. They All look very different depending on the light and the time of the day. And then just a couple of updated pictures: I don't like how the deck turned out but that's a whole different story. I wanted a darker brownish less orange tone... I would have picked a different darker wood with clear stain. That's what I get when I leave a decision up to the hubby. Kinda like the rough cedar trim hubby decided on to put around all the windows/doors/belly bands vs. having smooth hardi like I would have wanted if he would have asked me LOL. By the time I realized it, 3/4 of the trim was done and I couldn't ask to have it changed. Oh well. Worse things could have happened.

This is one of the pictures that really made us love a more modern idea than we had originally planned.