That's a really good suggestion and one I hadn't even thought of! I've been going round and round with colors and it never occurred to me to just hand it off to hubby, I guess I wasn't seeing the forest for the trees. Won't he be thrilled ;) I have spent some time on Houzz and have seen some ideas that I like but nothing that has really hit me yet. My challenge is also to marry those colors with those big rooms and high ceilings into my small, low ceiling kitchen. Alex9179, thank for the link. Some of those kitchens are the ones that I like the most. Especially the blues. CEFreeman, it's a cool house. We bought it knowing it was a 20 year plan or megabucks kind of place but are enjoying the challenge (except for this paint thing...this is making me crazy!).

Sorry, I can’t suggest a good white S.W. paint color, but I would not call a white house with charcoal accents “blinding”. It is one of my favorite combos (my ’76 house is white clapboard with black windows and doors). BTW, I used B.M. Super White. You want white; get white. Hey, it is only paint ($$$$) but it is not a life threatening choice. Good luck and stick to your guns.

I wouldn't paint that brick. Lime wash is (mostly) for unfortunately colored brick. Yours already has a similar lime wash look and it has a really good colorway. Get a designer to suggest some new ideas for the trim/shutter/door color. Try taking off the shutters to see if that helps give an updated look/feel.

Yes to removing the shutters. A house in my neighborhood had red brick similar to yours with white trim, I was amazed how good it looked when the white was painted a light tan (or beige). If you don't want to paint the columns and gutters, how about a color that echos the roof?