lceh, I'm sorry I came late to this thread -- have you looked at the General Finishes dye stains? In terms of quality they're superior to the MinWax products and you might get a longer lasting finish from them? Then there's also milk paint, which is a fabulous cabinet finish topped with a good sealer. It's gorgeous. For anyone who is trying to "stain" their old cabinets and can't get all the previous coating off, this is a potential option. They make an additive that allows the milk paint to seal to previously-finished surfaces. Done this way, it's more opaque but has lots of natural tonal shadings that are the next best thing to a translucent stain. This is an old unfinished oak dresser I did, it's milkpainted white with gray stencils, but gives you the idea. (Driftwood plus Snow White and a little Slate gives you a perfect Gustavian Grey...) Whichever product you choose, they'll all look good -- have fun mixing! Here is a link that might be useful: Milk Paint

I do..because I have both of these colors in my house, I highly recommend B.M. CSP Subway Tile or Seersucker Suit. Two amazing blue/grays. I have to add I get a lot of South light.

My kitchen is open to my living room. We have white cabinets (Medallion White Icing) on the perimeters with BM Mineral Alloy on the island. Super White on the counters throughout with white 2x8 subway tiles. We also get ample light. I love blue, but was hesitant that I would tire of an entire blue kitchen. I feel our blue island (it's ~9x5) gives enough pop of color. Walls in adjoining rooms are BM Manchester Tan. Do take into consideration the decor in your living room. When we built 5 years ago, my furniture was very much earth tones which went well in our previous home. The stools in the above photo were from our old home which had natural cherry shaker cabinets. They have since been changed out. Still not happy with what I have, however. I've slowly changed the living room furniture so that the two rooms blend better. This is a picture I just snapped (sorry for the clutter). End table and sofa are all that's left from when we moved in. I'm still struggling with what to do with the sofa, but that's another thread.

Thanks all! I now have a massive collection of paint chips and am no further along toward a decision! I'm not sure if the online mockups are all that helpful - when I find images of exteriors with the various paint options, they seem to look very different than the chips or the online mockups. For example, the mock-up and the paint chip makes SW Iron Ore seem very dark - almost black - but this old thread from Houzz shows it painted on a house that looks blue-grey to me. I'll probably try testing some samples once they get the siding up. The problem for me is narrowing it down to 3 or 4 options. I have trouble making decisions in general and this reno has forced me to make about a billion so far. @debvanatl I like Witching Hour as well but a few photos make it look a little "brighter" than I think our little house can bear. @celerygirl I started out wanting just a darker version of our existing color but now I'm tipping over into blue. Still want to keep it dark and grey-toned though. @Tiny J your house is beautiful! Charcoal gray is now in contention. @littlebug zone 5 Missouri & @PPF new gutters and a new portico are part of the plan. And the new windows will be double-hung 6/1, at least a foot taller than the existing windows.