Well, with the caveat that I've been studying Victorians, I think its nice to have contrast between the flat surfaces (front door, shutters and garage door) and the trim (door frame, garage door frame, and gable board above the e garage). Also, despite the current trend toward white windows, doing dark sashes is more traditional - the idea is that dark sashes make the windows look larger - plus, white doesn't seem to go with your brick. So I'd recommend bronze for sashes and gutters and any painted metal on the property (exterior lights, fencing - a wrought iron fence might look really nice with the brick, or you could paint the picket fence.) Then, you want 3-4 colors for the house itself - the body color, the main trim color (darker shade of the body color, in keeping with "coordinated and tasteful") for the door frames, window frames, garage door and gable edge, and the front door/shutters/garage door in one or two colors - shutters and garage door together with front door different, garage door alone with shutters and front door together, or all 3 together. It is very common to do the front door in an acccent color, and I do think a dark red that picks up the darkest red in the bricks would look great. The shutters the same red would be more lively, the shutters a dark brown would be more traditional/subdued. Doing the garage door, shutters and front door all the same would also work, but I think you want to downplay the garage door and play up the entrance, so I'd probably keep those two different. Note that using a lot of different colors will increase your painting cost - the simplest would be medium body color (taupe) with dark trim/garage door/shutters (dark chocolate), and red on the door to give the house some color. That would still look nice - there's no real need to have the trim vs garage door/shutters distinction. There's a good book you might be able to find at the library called "The Perfectly Painted House: a Foolproof Guide for Choosing Exterior Paint Colors" by Bonnie Rosser Krims. I found it very helpful. Let us know how it turns out! -- Amanda

You could replicate any of these looks and contact the owner of the image to ask about the color they used: We suggest using Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/color-overview/find-your-color

@shead - brilliant idea to paint all of the front! I love the look!! and it won't be much added work. @groveraxle-thank you! I appreciate the work you did to show me what it would look like with full colors. @chloebud-um, I think you are right...they all look great! this will be a tough decision. but I agree, it looks better with the end painted. thank you!

We're ready to start planning our project in earnest and aren't sure the order in which we should do the work or how many different types of contractors we need. I'd appreciate any insights you can give. We hope to use the mockup @ourfarmhouse made for us as our goal (see below). Our exterior projects include: New roof in grey, which will require changing the color of the gutters, etc. Architectural elements, such as the columns at the front entry and on the upper dormer windows, and new shutters Painted front door and garage doors (instead of replacing them, for now) Repaired/repaved asphalt drive way 27'x14' concrete patio has a large crack down the entire length that will need repaired, and we're thinking about a decorative finish like acid-staining This same 27'x14' covered patio will be screened-in, and the existing posts might need replaced or refinished; will be changing from brown posts and ceiling to a color that coordinates with the new grey roof. What types of professionals do we need and/or which types of professionals can be used for multiple projects? For example, can we get by with a roofer (roof/gutters), asphalt/concrete company (driveway/patio), and carpenter (architectural elements, screened porch, painting door/garage door, and hanging shutters)? Is there an advantage to using a general contractor?What order should we follow? Thank you!