My builder recently completed a lake house with black painted siding (shakes) and gorgeous white trim....it was beautiful. When I first heard they were contemplating black, I thought “what are they thinking”, but it turned out great. I believe it was a Sherwin Williams color, but not exactly sure which one.

You have a really nice home and yard; wouldn't change it too much. Like the color of your brick. Like the soffit and fascia color you have but if you want a change, you could go a shade darker. Yard looks pretty good as is. Be careful not to crowd it. If you're in Planting Zone7, you might consider adding a long row of liriope (or something similar) alongside your garage and have it continue alongside your driveway all the way to the road. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/778982066770260289/ Is that a birdbath? Cannot tell if there is any window from which it can be seen as is; if not, you might move it to where it can be seen thru the window from the living room of the house. Would change the white lamp post in the front yard. The house number plaque on your house looks fine -- leave it -- but do add another at the beginning of your driveway. Perhaps combine the new lamp post and the new house number. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/114349278024850285/ If your living room windows don't open at the bottom, you might consider replacing them with windows that do open.

Hi, those are some "interesting" colour and decor choices for sure. I like the idea of grey/white that you are planning and I think a dark colour would look great with those choices. One of my favourites is Benjamin Moore Wrought Iron. It is what I would call a soft black......more grey than black. Here are some photos of Wrought Iron used on exteriors: For trim and or contrast colours, these are the recommended coordinating colours from the BM site: I'd be tempted to find a cream that is a little less beige than this one - something closer to the trim colour in the photo above with the dark garage doors. Once you have your shingle colour you can decide about the colour of the chimney. You could go with the wrought iron colour on the chimney or you could choose a paint colour to match the shingle colour so it would disappear a bit into the roof. There are some folks who are on Houzz that are very good at photoshop and amending photos to show various colour choices.. Alternatively both BM and SW have paint visualizer tools so you can upload your pictures and play with colours until you find a look that pleases you.

The only thing dated about the house is the wavy trim on the gable, which isn't going to maake much of a difference if you remove it. I happen to like it. "Dated" is a term TV shows used to justify large changes. Your house isn't trendy. Most houses aren't. The beige is a bit boring, but it's nicely done. The real problem is the acres of beige rock. You need more plants. Lots more. No matter how dry your area is, there has to be stuff that can grow there and needs little water. Find it.