I'd rather have teeth pulled without a pain shot than paint a redwood deck. Paint on decks tend to make them very slick when wet so I would suggest adding some polymer beads mixed into the paint. You'd have to roller it on tho as it won't go thru a sprayer. The one time I did paint a redwood deck I used a latex primer slightly watered down so it would absorb into the wood good. Then I used an industrial enamel for the top coat. It was a grey color & showed up every little stain/dirt real bad. I would suggest using Ken's RAD products to clean up the deck & brightner to bring back the original color then apply a quality stain. I haven't used his new stain yet, but did use the RAD product & it worked like a champ. Al

What're your summers like, Nancita? What exposure does the porch have and what do you use it for? For our front, north-facing walk-in porch I chose a traditional Charleston green, a regional color which is almost black, for a deep, cool look that would harmonize with the lighter green foliage all around, but we were forced to go light on the porch we sit out on because the summer sun on even a medium green here will make it too hot to walk on. I noticed on browsing the web that current front porch floor colors are typically deplorably limited and boring, but I would think any color that was considered generally acceptable for a front door could be used in a somewhat muted or darkened, or perhaps lightened, version without raising eyebrows. For back deck color, you're outside but still separated from "nature" while sitting on it. Would you like a look that reinforces the shelter feeling (interior-style elements and colors carried outside), or would you like to embrace nature more and feel more as if you were sitting in a park or woods, only without your chairs sinking in? :)

I think stick with the charcoal colour for most. I would do the cedar soffit colour on the stairs etc. Where are you located? This looks like Vancouver!

Have a look at the Blog posts and Colorography Lab at The Land of Color .com for attributes of lots of popular paint colours. It allows you to compare similar colours in detail. If you are looking at whites/off-whites or indeed any colours, note that the higher the Chroma the more colourful colour. A colour maybe so low in Chroma you might struggle to immediately recognise in which Hue Family it belongs. Even so, every single paint colour does belong to a Hue Family: identifying which, helps you combine colours with greater confidence. Here are some popular whites by comparison.