Looking at your inspiration pictures, the first one works because the golden to orange tones in the stained columns play well with the green of the siding.The stone on that house is really a secondary player color wise. In the second photo the reddish brown stain works well with the same tones that are in the brick and the stone but the white around the not yet finished front door is off - probably not meant to be white. The third picture is harder to tell but I agree the columns appear too dark and at least in that photo, they fight with the stain on the front door. I think you're right that white is not the best choice for your house, especially since you want it to read as wood. Look at these Cabot stains just for ideas with your front door and siding/stone. Wood tone stains that lean yellow/gold/orange just don't work on your house. Same with stains that lean red. Lots of the browns fight with your door to me, which is why I see a stain that harmonizes with your siding. What happens to natural cypress as it ages - does it darken? Gray? If you let it age to a point you like then clear coat with a matte finish, does that appeal to you? Otherwise I'd take some cypress cut offs (hopefully you have some!) and start playing around mixing colors - a little Tannery and some Limestone mixed into Coastal Gray to start. Think basic color theory. Follow the link to see all the colors - my screen shot only shows some. Here is a link that might be useful: Cabot Stains This post was edited by dlm2000 on Mon, May 26, 14 at 23:07

I don't know about the technical aspects of properly wrapping a porch column, or whether to use treated wood. However, before wrapping a porch column with real wood, I would be thinking about how to put a durable finish on the wood. My neighbor spent a small fortune having a custom wood garage door made. The door looked gorgeous for about a year, and then the finish began to fail. After three years, the garage door looked like crap (faded & peeling). Also, I would consider a vinyl or PVC wrap, if I could find one in a wood-look material that looks good. Some manufacturers (e.g. Georgia Pacific & CertainTeed) make nice synthetic wood-look sidings, but I don't know whether they make similar wood-look materials for wrapping columns. This post was edited by GypsyWaterfowl on Sat, Jul 27, 13 at 22:55

Our porch is all screen except for the columns and the narrow frames of the screens. Our colonial is circa 1938 and whitish columns and arch accents were the way to go. But I painted the wooden screen- and door- surrounds a very dark green, not black, but a black substitute. It lives well. The screens and the frames, being all dark, tend to disappear when you are on the porch. My porch is entirely shaded, and I wanted some light out there, so I painted the back wall of the house a lighter color. You don't see the wall from inside, so there's color liberty for that wall. (my house does have kind of the camp/cottage/farmhouse look) If you like I can take a picture later.

jterrilynn is a genius! :) I just now noticed she completed my railing on the octagon - lol!! Love it! You ALL have such a great eye - you have helped us leaps and bounds. My husband and I like the black posts. He and I are divided however on the lower level fascia under the deck. I am liking the house color as a tie-in to the rest of the structure with the brown fascia a close second. He likes it black. Hmmmm.... we have a few days to think about it before the painter returns. If anyone has more to weigh in on, feel free :)