I saw the Dead Salmon in my new House Beautiful this morning. They write lovely, glowing, things about it. But I KNOW I couldn't use it. I would be the butt of dinner party jokes for a year if I had a room in Dead Salmon. But on another note, I had a quick meeting at my house and one of the 30ish girls who is redoing her her 70's house (purchased 10 years ago by her new husband--a firefighter who only cared about building a shop in the back) came in and loved my entry color! She wanted me to write down the name, but fortunately I had a color strip with Dry Sage as well as Grey Mirage, on it. She says she can't choose color at all. She just gloms on to someone else's room that looks good and steals the paint color. (I've seen her house and it's beautiful--and she has a deep red like in my kitchen in her DR, plus, a sage like my Baby Turtle in her LR, so she might as well use the Dry Sage too!) Red

I painted the door today. I'm waiting for it to dry before I close it, but here are before and after pictures while it was open. Before. The spot above the lock is where I used rubbing alcohol to check if was latex paint on the door. The color difference of hardware is when the ex walked out, I changed the locks, and I didn't want to change the door lever also. After:

Paint not stain? While I don't have a home like you're asking I can tell you that "Dark Ash" exterior wood stain is simply gorgeous! I used it on my fence. Everyone always goes with warm reds and oranges--too "hot", which is the opposite of the "cool" colors I have in my shade garden, a work in progress. What I wanted was the look of the pale grey weathered wood tones and Dark Ash is it! It is as close to weathered grey there is, and it has a grey-blue undertone, yet it is not blue, and look like a light tobacco brown when you stir it in the can! I am so happy with this color that I painted the red brick with it and WOW! Who knew how great common red brick looks stained! I even bought Dark Ash exterior paint for concrete and painted the floor of my front porch, where the brick edges are. LOVE it! The porch just looks like the grey of concrete. As for your project, if it is paint you want, first decide if you want a yellow-based or a blue-based grey. A warm grey or a cool grey. Since you're on a lake I think a cool grey would be lovely. And a cool grey can have a bluish or a greenish undertone. However, if you go with a yellow-based grey in a green it will have a olive undertone to it. If you have some spare Hardie board you might get some paint samples before making your decision. Your home looks like it will be charming!

While we wait for others to weigh I on colors, I will add my honest opinion. I would drywall over the brick. For paint, I would continue the gray paint you are using on the walls. Can you share the name of your gray paint? Lovely so far.