your house is more of spanish ranch, and the dream house is more of a tudor.

what kind of roof are you doing? the same type or a clay spanish style, metal??

"I don't want my house to blend in or stand out like sore thumb". lol. well, then what would you like? If it doesn't blend in w/the others, it's going to stand out. It's good to be different.

this body somewhat mimics yours and what you want, w/the pop outs done in a darker color. it still has the tile roof though. I don't care for the taupe-pink color, but imagine this in a warm white w/a tan or soft black trim.

spanish styles look nice in soft whites w/black trim, some nice tile work or stone work on the body.

this spanish style is one of my favorites. most homes like yours are light with a brown, black or that patina color of greenish/blue. do your home a favor and get a spanish style roof, or the metal roof (metal roof will last your lifetime). so some sort of talavera or saltillo type of tile. NM is the perfect place to have a home like this.

why don't you look at Spanish Ranch homes and see if you find anything you like?

Of the website you gave the 'desert tan' comes closest to the roof of your 'dream house'. But it isn't the same. Your dream house roof top is even more orange than that. (And personally I like the Canyon sunset better.)

I believe that it is wise to first get the roof top redone and than decide on the wall color. For what is off with your house right now, is that roof top and wall color are way too close.

Look at the pictures Beth showed you: they all have roof tops that stand out in color. Take her advise, for trying to make your house into something it is not, will only give disappointing results. Work with the Spanish style, not against it. Browse the internet until you find your Spanish style dream house and go from there.

Thank you for your responses. Whereas I love the look of the tiled roof, it sadly can't happen. So shingles is where I'm at.When referring to the 'dream' home picture, there are only two things from that picture that I really liked, the combination of the reddish-brown shingled roof and the color of the stucco, which I liked because I felt they were southwestern.

My hope is to match shingles to the coloring of typical red-brown spanish style roof, lighten the body of the house and do a darker trim. Looking at my shingle options from the link above, any recommendations? The canyon sunset shingles Marla likes aren't listed as a color in any other place I've looked, including the sample pack and on the websites visualizer (strange!)

I like Beth's idea of adding tile or stone work accents and will probably cover the front planter boxes with something...but first, the house! I want my house to stand apart from the neighborhood (which wont be hard since many are varying shades of yellow brick) and stick out like a beautifully painted thumb, haha!

After doing tons of more research, here are some more shingle color options, I'm thinking the terracotta comes the closest to the spanish tiled roofs.

yes,,that one or the desert tan. If you stick w/a creamy white stucco, and your dark trim, either will work. the terra cotta will look great if you decide to do some saltillo tile work. You could also paint this combo w/cobalt blue, yellow, turquoise, or that patina green for doors and ceramic pots in the yard. If you're in the Southwest, then go Southwestern!

btw,,,they have these shingles that look like tiles. GAF

http://www.roofingsouthwest.com/blog/designer-shingles