I will hand draw the rough floor plans and elevations so that I will not violate the contract. It will take a while and might not be to the exact true scale of it, but hopefully is close enough. I love the floor plan, it was made with a lot of our feedbacks, but hate the curves put in the master bathroom - seems pointless and expensive. I deeply dislike the exterior and interior detailing (not just cost matter, I feel it was pushed on us against our interests), and I also am feeling very unsure about our roof line and gables (can it be simpler or fewer? does it matter to reduce cost?). I am annoyed that we have to spend almost 30K on a fake chimney. We don't want to trigger structural review if possible (6 months delay + 20K structural eng fees), but given how bad I feel about it, we are discussing that maybe it is not too bad if we delay the project for a year while trying to fix the design issues and looking at the housing market for alternatives. And who knows, if we are ok with triggering structural review, the additional saving could be substantial that we care less about the 20K structural redesigning fees. We started the design process years ago when we were of more limited means. Ours is a building designer, not an architect. cpartist, I do think the yellow house look like a farm house. Our started out as a Tudor, and we keep most of it when the city wanted craftsman instead. I think it only look like a forced G&G, and the only thing that might fool some people into thinking it's G&G is the brick/rock work and excessive detailing. But then again, reasonable G&G homes I look at have much quieter exterior. The house on the left of our lot is "supposedly" a craftsman, but doesn't look like it at all. I think the city wants the craftsman "flavor". We are not purist, I don't mind some modifications to craftsman, but don't want a loud expensive exterior and interior. Thanks to the veteran architects in this thread, I am learning a lot from you.

Hi Beth, I do like shakes on the gable end of some of the houses around here. Our pitch is very low, and I wonder if it would look funny with such a small section having shakes. At this point, we are sticking with the t1-11 until in a few years we can stucco. By that time, the house will have another room off the lower floor and also a porch, so it will look like a totally different house. Thank you so much for the color palettes!

(no, none of those your mentioned would clash w/your windows. I've linked quite a few articles for you to read. give them a shot first, and then come back if you have questions) Here's a color review on Dorian Gray. she favors Pure White and High Reflective white for the trim. https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/paint-colour-review-sherwin-williams-dorian-gray-sw-7017/ Have you ever read any of Kylies articles on exposure and paint colors? very interesting. here are a few you can peruse https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/exterior-painting-4-things-to-know-before-picking-a-colour/ https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/the-best-exterior-paint-colours-why-your-homes-exposure-matters/ scroll down to where she talks about East facing homes. SO, HOW DOES EAST-FACING LIGHT AFFECT PAINT COLOURS ON THE EXTERIOR OF A HOME? East-facing morning light is bright and will make paint colours look MUCH lighter than they will in the afternoon An east-facing afternoon will look an AWFUL lot like a north-facing one in that it gets NO sunshine and no shadows. It’s also similar to a west-facing morning light – flatter than a pancake In the afternoon, east-facing homes can look more shaded – more like they do on the north-facing side (or western morning) With east-facing light being tricky, you’ll want to pay attention to the LRV that you choose. This way, you can land on an LRV that doesn’t wash-out too much in the morning, but also doesn’t look too heavy in the afternoon. https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/paint-colours-and-lrv-the-ultimate-guide-to-choosing-the-right-colour/ https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/how-to-pick-exterior-paint-colours-in-5-easy-steps/ https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/sherwin-williams-best-gray-greige-paint-colours/ this link is all gray paint colors that she talks about. pay attention to the undertones and the LRV https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/page/2/?s=gray+exterior+colors

@elcieg - I have thought about not replacing the shutters - a few people in our neighborhood have done that recently. This one is about 3 houses down from my house: @BethThis is one of my neighbor’s - the body is the same shade as the color you suggested for the body of my house - just looks different in the afternoon since we have an eastern exposure (this photo makes it look more gray): I’ve always wanted to rip off the shutters on their garage - after spending time on Houzz, I now know why!