carra, I'm sorry I don't have the floor plan. Although the exterior looks close to ours, I have no idea how they laid out the interior. Here is a link through my builder's website that has a few pics, maybe that will help a little. Here is a link that might be useful: gold house

Grrr. You folks are making great points. Thank you. I am at war with those columns anyway. Mtn, thanks so much for the photos. That first one is similar to my home in front with multiple materials -- especially the siding on the garage which I have painted dark charcoal -- leading me to like a the "blackish" door. The second photo I had used for inspiration when considering brick painting. What about the "blackish" door options below .... I don't want half-half w/mutin bars as I have that now with blinds and it is wayyy too country for me. I am moving toward craftsmanship style or traditional/artsy fartsy -- maybe 3rd one?

Your roof color needs to be considered also. If the roof is brown, I would stick with white or cream siding. If the roof is gray (which is appears in the photo), a very light warm gray would work for the siding. Your sample grays look too cool to me. Once you lighten the siding, you may want a darker trim color, and could then use that on the columns to help them disappear.

If you feel the driftwood is too dark paint the adjacent siding black, it will immediately get lighter. If you want the driftwood to look darker paint the adjacent siding light. I would go all dark for the painted elements…