The idea of two toned is nice but this is just extreme, and the dark on top looks brooding. I think it is perfectly fine to paint all the siding one color (if a little boring) If you want to explore two tone you just need a shade or two lighter or darker than your chosen color or the same value but a slightly different color (grey for the first floor and moss for the second for instance)

Some visual with two tones

Rough visual with one tone

Thank you so much for the renderings! I am starting to think that maybe gray is too modern for my craftsman-style home. Or perhaps I just need a darker gray.

Love Tracy's brown rendering above, very appropiate and elegant, compliments the color of your front door perfectly. Also such a great change from all the gray you see everywhere.

Thank you doods. It also depends on the area. In Berkeley, you see tons of brown shingle siding, so over there I would be inclined to choose that beautiful blue by Celery in this case.

I like this color from Benjamin Moore for both the top and bottom sections.

I'd go all one color. More important is getting all your trim to be the same color. I see light brown around the top windows, dark brown around the bottom windows and white around the door. If your windows are vinyl and you can't paint the trim, I'd go with a warm cream.

I think a darker gray all one color is a great choice for your house. You have what looks to be a gray roof, so brown isnt the best color. One of the pictures above shows a two tone in a beautiful blue. I dont like the two tone, but, think that color for the whole house would be gorgeous.

Paint the clapboard the same brown as the shingles (probably a stain, so you will need to match) and paint the front door the color of the Japanese maple.

I love elcieg’s suggestion to paint the front door the same color as the Japanese Maple. I think this color from Benjamin Moore that I color matched to one of the siding sample patches on your house looks great with this very dark maroon color.

I've been looking and looking at the photo of the house and I'm not sure it is Craftsman. The third story front gable with replaced windows, the shingles on second floor/clapboard on first floor (the reverse of Craftsman), ...I don't know, but should it be Queen Anne Victorian, would that change suggestions of paint colors?

Maybe paint and a texture, instead of two-tone paint. If not, one paint color would look great.

I like the two tone, but the upper portion should be lighter.

Wow, thank you for this! I was wondering if this could work. My latest thought is that maybe it could be a dark gray paired with a lighter gray.

Here is nice color for craftsman exterior