Just a couple thoughts, and I'll leave the rest to the pros here. Your windows are neither the right size or style for shutters. Paint the garage door the same color as the siding. That will help pull focus from it. Also paint the downspouts the siding color to help them "disappear." I'm sure you'll get some mockups here to help with colors.

The setting for your house is pretty with all the trees. The house looks more ranch to me than craftsman.

I love Rosemary color!

I would go with cedar/wood post, matching front door and fence

celerygirl - would you paint the eaves the rosemary color or follow the cedar/wood in a shingle type style?

I would keep them white as trim.

Maybe I'm calling the area "eaves" incorrectly. On the both sides of the house the roof line goes up and there is vertical siding painted the same color as the house now. Plus there is the small area (triangle) above the garage. Are you saying to paint those areas white?

Ohhhhhh I see...may be this small gable is called as dormer? And yes I would paint it with the same color as body.

IMO eaves it is what cover/connect bottom roof to body (walls) .

I still don't know what to do about painting the shutters. We are custom making them for functionality (primarily). We live on the coast and we need them for protection. They will be bi-fold because our windows are so large. What color should we paint them?

If we paint the shutters a cedar/wood color should we add trim to the white garage door in the cedar/wood color also?

I do like the idea of adding cedar to the house. I also agree that your windows aren't the right type for shutters. You could, however add muntins to them to give them a craftsman look. I would do a simple 3 over 1. There are kits available to add muntins to existing windows.

So we spent a good amount of time outside over dinner looking at paint swatches and discussing many variables. We think we might have a solution but wanted some opinions. We want our home to "pop" in a good way when we're done. We have decided to not make the shutters and just hang the old plywood when a storm comes through.

Tell us what you think and if celerygirl or anyone else can do a mock-up to show us what this would look like, we'd greatly appreciate it!

BASE COLOR - SW 6186 Dried Thyme or SW 6187 Rosemary (concerned that Rosemary might be a little too dark. All walls and gutters in this color.

TRIM COLOR - SW 7746 Rushing River - columns, garage door, trim

ACCENT COLOR 1 - SW 2824 Renwick Golden Oak (or something else that looks like the cedar wood color) - main fence color (which will be sealed). Maybe also paint on the side gables??? We're still unsettled what to do with those side gables. The one on the front of the house (above the garage) is small, but the sides ones are pretty large.

ACCENT COLOR 2 - SW 6994 Greenblack - front door and top lattice of the fence to tie it all in. Plus we plan to replace the coach lighting and it will be painted greenblack along with the rod iron wall plant hangers, patio furniture, etc. will all be refreshed with greenblack.

Question - should the gutters look best the same as the wall or trim color? We'd like to have it not stand out. Is 4 colors too busy?

Funny how we started off saying we would definitely keep the trim white and we decided to not stick with the white and as soon as I logged back on I read the suggestion from raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio. Thank you!

I prefer Dried Thyme, that is a lovely shade.

I do think putting the golden oak color on the gables would be jarring. It is too warm for the calmer colors of the grays and greens, I think. It might work at some distance (on the fence) but not on the house itself. JMHO.

I would stick with either Dried Thyme, Rushing River, or one of the two colors that are adjacent to Dried Thyme on the sample stick (Rosemary or Escape Gray) for the gables Since I can't see them in person, I don't know how well Rushing River works with the Dried Thyme but it seems good on my computer.

I would also match the gutters/downspouts to the trim color - I think your house can stand the "outlining" effect - on some other houses it would be too busy. Please consider painting the window frames also - there is paint specifically made for vinyl (if that is what they are) and it will last a good 10 years if properly prepped and applied - at least mine did (mine lasted 15 actually).

If you want to bring in a pop of color somewhere beyond the grays/green/black, I would look for a gray-blue that is perhaps a bit brighter in tone but still with the same feel. A fourth color is fine, but in a smaller amount (like in accents like a door, pots, and so forth).

Definitely a lot to consider. This can be so overwhelming.

You could paint the body of the house and then decide on trim.

When I see a low horizontal roof line like yours, I think Asian. Are you sold on Craftsman? Here's your Rosemary tricked up with Asian touches.

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Are you sure you want to keep the plywood for storm protection?

Your HO insurance premium is probably much higher without some sort of hurricane protection (not plywood).

There are other solutions. Impact glass, accordian shutters, panel shutters, Bahamian shutters. Believe it or not, there is even hurricane fabric protection! Very reasonable in cost and effective plus very easy to put up when a storm comes along.

https://www.hurricanefabric.com/