New paints are very good and should last many years. A coat of Kilz for the first coat will do wonders. Also, caulking would be required. It will take several coats since the cracks and seams in the dried-out wood will require a lot of paint for coverage. Since the house seems to be low to the ground, it should be easy to paint, if you try to do it yourself.

If you don’t like the paint, you can always install siding in a few years.

Before you do anything just try cleaning the wood. Cedar is extremely durable and can be brought back if not rotted. Use Cedar Wash

https://www.amazon.com/Wash-Safe-Industries-Eco-Safe-Container/dp/B01CTUS97Y/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1527196070&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=cedar+wash&psc=1

NO PAINT on cedar. That will be a lifelong maintenance problem. Stain can be used but no paint.

Any ideas for colors?

I’d try to find a taupe with a touch of grey that goes with the brick. Can you post some closeups of the brick, making sure to include all the colors? And what is your roof color and material?

You want stain for rough cedar. Not paint. Paint will peel. Stains don't. Opaque or semi-transparent. I think Sherwin Williams Mountain Ash would look good on your house.

The cedar needs to be replaced. We can stain the new cedar. Will check out mountain ash. Thanks!

Here is our brick color. The roof is brown concrete.

I'm stunned WK that you think those painted cedar shakes looks good on your home. The beauty of shakes is the variable tones which you can still see if you stain the cedar.

You could install stained Board and Batten siding if you are dead set on spending the money

Liking the cedar siding you have. If you're already resigned to replacing the siding anyway and unless it is literally rotten, then before you spend money on new siding, you might try experimenting on a "hidden" bit of your cedar siding first and see what spraying it with bleach (use caution -- eye protection and wear old clothes you can throw away -- when using bleach to lighten old lumber) and then applying either linseed oil and/or WCF just to see what it would (and will not) do to it for the next time your cedar siding darkens.

We have board and batten on the back of the house. It still looks good and is painted. The cedar on the south wall has degraded and needs to be replaced. We don’t mind replacing all of the cedar since it only the south and front walls. Plus the bricks takes up a lot of the wall. The cedar was stained opaque for many years. Then it started to darken so he had to use semi opaque to even it out. Beach won’t correct the damaged wood. So will replace and stain. I will look at the color chart you posted. The color is what is concerning me the most.

But I like your idea of using bleach to see results for the next time the cedar darkens!! Thanks!

Stain is nice for newer wood. Heavily weathered wood can be saved by painting it.

Bevflaw, How nice of you. What a "pro". Yes, armchair is correct, weathered old wood with 35 year old paint peeling off would have been impossible to stain. And our house actually would have look ridiculous stained........

I agree with everyone!! I would love to re-stain the wood to a lighter color, but it has already been stained several times, the last time being a very dark color. I don't think it would ever lighten up enough to my liking with another coat of stain. Washing or bleaching is not going to lighten the color, since the wood was stained dark. I love the look of stained wood with the grain and knots showing, so to get that result I think I would either have to replace the cedar or possibly have it sanded. Does anyone know if sanding or sandblasting siding is possible? If I can get it to its original lighter color I can stain it natural or a light color. Paint is an option if I can't afford to have the wood replaced, or have it possibly resurfaced. So thank you everyone for your input. It helped me find my options.