I'm staining some pine boards for a ceiling right now. The color I'm using is Rustic Grey - Sherwin Williams. 1:1 ratio with thinner.

ed1516, what are you staining, the floor, the posts, the porch ceiling?

If you are staining the floor, I would stain using a charcoal color. Posts I would go with white if you don't want to feature them, or the same charcoal if you want them to stand out. As to the porch ceiling, have you considered a "haint blue" colored ceiling? Like this pic below (expand to see the porch ceiling). Or a natural looking wood stain like the second pic below (gray house)

Angela- I pulled up the rustic grey - what a beautiful color. I would love to see a picture of your project, if you have one.

Denita- I am staining the floor of the deck and the open beams of the ceiling ( we decided to leave the ceiling open for a more rustic look). The beams are Douglas Fir so our intention was to seal, but not stain a color in order to allow the natural color of the wood to come through. Of course, we are open to suggestions and ideas. I love the houses you attached!

I like the darker gray with whit etrim.