WHY those colors with that stone ?

I’m open to other ideas - we are choosing from Hardie colors, do you have another suggestion?

Are your shutters painted….if so what color?

I would use the same color as the shutters, and paint the basement door the siding color.

I should have mentioned - the shutters don’t exist at the moment but we do plan to add them back to the stone part (and maybe siding part) of the house. So the shutters can be whatever color!

I don't think those beiges are the best colors to go with the stone, either. White, gray or even sage. We used to have a Pennsylvania stone front center hall colonial with Nantucket Gray siding on the back. That is a BM color that is as green as it is gray. Is this an addition on an old stone house? If you've ordered the windows already what's done is done, but black windows on an old stone house make me wince. IMO black windows are a trend. In ten years or so people will be posting on this forum asking how they can work around their "awful" black windows. Also, the addition is devoid of character. I would at least put on a small porch roof covering the back door. This is something that people frequently want to add after the fact and it's easier to do it when you're under construction.

I would pick a siding close to the color of the stone (hard to tell colors on my monitor, so don't want to suggest a specific Hardie product). Then, a soft neutral cream for the trim, a sage main door, and the secondary door painted the color of the siding. I would not do shutters - it only emphasizes that the windows are off-kilter from the peak. You didn't ask, but I'd also rethink your landscaping....it pulls the eyes directly to the "seam" in the house. I'd plant a large tree in the yard to disguise that area, instead of highlighting it.

I would install some protection over the side doors.

Awning or Standing Metal Seam Material.

I have drawn in the canopies over the doors and added shutters to the house.

kandrewspa - thanks for your input! The stone has been really challenging to coordinate with... it is really red in person, no grays at all. When we've looked at colors that have green undertones, they really seem to clash, unfortunately! Great point about the porch, that is in the works as well.

Sammie J - appreciate your ideas, I hear you about the shutters. And, thanks for the point about the landscaping, that's a great perspective I had not thought of.

Thank you Beverly, for taking the time to do that! I believe we are working to add a small portico or porch, at least over the left door. Would definitely add some much-needed character!

Both bronze. You are trying to marry two halves of the house and don't need another element that will make the left half stand out too much.

Does your stone actually have purple in it as the picture suggests? Then for the Hardie siding, I‘d go with any of the cool grays, such Night Gray. Avoid any tans.

do you have pictures of the stone and how it really looks? Is it dark purple like shown?

If so, I prob wouldn't go w/tan. but if you do, you need a plum color door

you see this siding? w/the plum? and don't forget to add purple landscaping accents

Another poster on here painted his door the plum color to go w/the siding. I believe he had Iron Ore oh his shutters.

here's that door on your drawing

Brinjal would also look nice.

I'd prob do a lighter siding color. like a faint gray w/lavender undertones. Pearl Gray?

Here's your stone over Pearl Gray siding. much better look. and do not use a creamy, yellow white trim. please, no navajo beige!

you need a crisp white like the Arctic White trim that is shown in these pics

get samples of it and Nightgray, place it next to your stone, and snap some pics

Here's NightGray w/black doors.

Here's Pearl Gray. I think I'd use this before that tan!

I think this goes better w/the stone, no?

Pearl Gray and Light Mist. get those samples

If you want something more dramatic, Use this dark gray color that they're installing on this one.

I think this one is Aged Pewter

with the bright white trim, raisin/plum accents w/landscaping and door colors, maybe some wood stain elements, it might be very nice

What about this style of siding? instead of the heavy lap? this looks more modern. It's Midnight Black

Have you thought about doing the vertical board and batten style at all?

You can use both

Here is rough mock up using a dark gray Hardie board and deep purple entry door. A white portico and add dwarf Japanese Maple out in landscaping to distract from basement door. Paint basement door to match siding. I added shutters in black to all windows. The bottom left windows will be tricky because it might not accommodate two inside edge shutters. I plugged in more greenery below windows on left side of entry door.

I like black doors.

To minimize the basement door i would paint it the siding color.

Since it's come up in a few responses, here is a close-up of the stone in natural light. I read it as red, rather than purple - but I don't have the best eye when it comes to color! The mortar is a sand/beige color, which led to my idea of using a cream for the trim.

And here is a view of the front, in direct sunlight.

Beth H you shared some great ideas, thank you! I do love the plum color, and purple is one of my favorite garden colors to use. I did just post a better picture of the stone, do you still see it as reading purple? I struggle with seeing undertones.

I have looked at the cool and dark grays that Hardie offers, and to my eye, they seem to clash with the stone - I feel like it's calling for warm colors rather than cool - especially with the mortar, and the brown roof. But again, this is why I posted, I am not confident in my color sense lol!

I have been shying away from white trim, so that's a hard one for me to consider. I feel like it is so stark against the stone, and also wanted to do something different/out of the ordinary.

Flo - thank you for the ideas! I am on the same track with the portico as you showed. And I like the idea of distracting from the basement door with a landscaping element. And you picked up on a potential problem with the shutters, bottom left windows would make it tight - when we measure, there would be about 4" between the shutters. We'll check again once the new windows, siding and trim are up.

The opposite of red on the color wheel is green. Have you considered a siding in the sage green family? You could keep your cream trim and the shutters could be a really dark green or black or dark gray. I, too, like the idea of painting the basement door the color of the siding to have it blend in and not detract from the main door.

I see the challenge around working with the stone. Going dark, or using a medium gray - while striking - may not work once you posted the stone in direct light.

I’ll be the outlier - what about a creamy ivory? I think the beige is too dull. The siding is a larger portion of the building than the stone so that color is also prominent.

I agree with Beth that using some vertical siding will make the house more interesting. The main siding is more critical than the doors, of course, but a deep purple could work on the main door. That’s a secondary decision.

Let us know if there is an ivory/creamy option in the color chart.

Great suggestions are coming in. I would paint the secondary door the color of the trim or the siding. I like the gray siding color. I put shutters on all of your windows. I would either do all shutters or none. The two next to the main door are so close together that there would be an overlap.

I would suggest having all the doors the same nearly black color as the ground-level door to the basement and having shutters in the same color. I also would suggest one awning-like covering above the main floor door and having it extend, at the same height, over the door to the basement. I also would suggest a white picket fence enclosure going from the right corner of the steps, across the basement door area, to the corner where the black stone begins. There should be a white picket gate straight out from the basement door and a few plants inside this enclosure to give the house more New England charm.

From Beth’s many good suggestions - Toasted Marshmallow body and Napa Harvest purple door.

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I love that purple door Beth H. posted, and the Light Mist she mentioned looks like a good match to some of the cool gray stones. The mortar is a creamy color, but the warmer siding color shown on your first mock-up (Kakhi Brown) doesn’t look right from a distance. I agree with other posters that the door on the right should be painted the same color as the siding to blend in.

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Painting the door you wish to minimize the same as the siding would be most effective. I have same color siding on a house that has some brick veneer and little architectural character I have painted the front door an olivey lime color. That could change if I get a better quote on a new glazed door.

Any of the two reds are great. When you have so much neutral colors, you want a feature to pop, and bring it to life. That's the red. Good Luck with your remodel!

I agree with the comments regarding the purple undertones of the stone. I love the plum swirl color.

I put various options of the siding shown against the stone. They are the same on both sides of the picture.

With a squint test, I feel like I like Rich Espresso or Aged Pewter but it's possible the Countrylane could work in real life.

I think that gray siding would better suit the colour of your stone. The 2 gray samples shown below are from James Hardie but it's difficult to judge colours on a computer so you'd need to look at the samples with your stone.

On the visual below I used the darker gray with white trim which you can compare with the colours you chose so far (circled in red).

I also show a white front door (as the main door of the 2 - but black would also be nice) and the door to the basement painted the same colour as the siding.

Listen to Beth H, she nailed the colors. I agree with her that the stone looks more purple than red, and the colors she suggested wouldn't have the siding fighting with the stone. The stone stands out more than the mortar to my eye.

I think that red is always a good color.

Bronze would also be a good color or brown if you don’t want to advertise your door