millworkman: Proper installation is a necessity for a great many things. Poorly installed PVC trim can indeed mask other problems, but I have a hard time seeing that as a reason for not using it. Poorly installed wood trim can also mask problems as it rots in places hard to see from the outside. tlbean2004: Do not put PVC or anything else over wood. All that does is create a place for water to collect between two different materials. PVC is designed to be used alone as a replacement for wood. Will you ever have to replace it? Never is a very long time, but given correct installation, PVC trim will last much longer than wood. If your rot problems, however, were the result of improperly installed drip edge, etc., you may get good long life with wood once the problems are corrected. Rot resistant wood such as cedar or pressure treated is a good idea, but proper priming of all surfaces before installation is also very important.

If the goal is to upgrade the curb appeal, I would look to landscaping because your house colours are mostly working as is. That said, you're showing the Gentek samples which I'm assuming are for the soffit. The soffit doesn't actually show so I'm not sure why you're starting there. They help bounce light into your windows, so going with the lightest colour that goes with your lightest bricks (NOT white) would be a direction for the soffits. The door and siding are an entirely different matter. The brown that you have now on the siding goes perfectly with the darkest brown bricks. Just refresh it. The thing that looks out of place is the overly white vinyl windows and door. I'm guessing the windows can not be painted so that leaves the door . (If the windows could be painted, a beige colour that tied back into the brick would be the idea. ) The front door could/should be a different colour than the siding. The natural wood tone suggested by Freedomplace1 would work with your brick if you changed the door, but probably not as a paint colour. What were you thinking for the door?

I would do everything: roof , windows and siding the gray of the middle stone in your last picture

Using the darker color doesn't look bad -- it works well with the darker bump out -- but the wider darker horizontal area visually "shortens" the exterior walls of the upstairs and I'd want to avoid that.