I painted my foundation with elastomeric paint, and it's held up nicely for several years. It's not the most enjoyable DIY job ever (the paint is thick/heavy,) but it can be colormatched to your siding. https://www.performance-painting.com/blog/the-pros-cons-for-elastomeric-paint

Agree with Lyn. Your patio is beautiful. Painting the foundation would not add aesthetically to the area

That siding is not that old. why did they cover the top of the small window? I would want to fix that and then continue it down.

otherwise what about faux brick?

Is it stucco? We just had our walk-out basement walls re-stuccoed with a color match to the siding. I'm extremely pleased with it.

Thank you all so much for these great ideas! The siding is only a few years old, but every contractor we’ve spoken to (6 now) has said it would be difficult to find the match, and even if we found it, it might not match exactly. Most suggested re-siding the top and continuing it down, or just putting up stone. The other concern about siding all the way down was the need to put furring strips into the concrete foundation.

I’d feel so wasteful residing the entire gone and getting rid of perfectly good, new-ish siding!

It’s not stucco, just concrete!

Can you just paint it with masonry paint to match rhe siding? Or use a stone veneer if you prefer (make sure your stone choice has a color in it that matches the siding).

I like the faux brick that RL Relocation posted. It gives a nice finished look❣️

First I would look into resurfacing the stucco/ciment you have or look into stucco panel often used for renovations. The smooth finish of stucco looks nice with the siding as well as with your pavers. I suggest a colour to match the siding and would do a larger white frame around the patio door. Black planters on either side of the patio door would stand out more than the white ones. You can also install a screen to hide your A/C unit.

I would either stucco the first level or paint the existing concrete in a color that blends with the siding- a shade lighter or darker will probably work better than trying for an exact match. I think your contractors are being honest, any siding material changes color over time so trying to match what you have would probably be a fools errand and a full reside would be the only option (and I feel unnecessary)

Thank you everyone for your input! :)