for the front (which is very nice) I'd lose those hedges, get black mulch, and do something like this w/the lawn and flower beds.

For my stucco I did Behr Swiss Coffee, and BM Wrought Iron on the trim and underside of the fascia

closer shot of the colors. we already had the wood-look garage doors.

for yours I'd wait and pick out the house colors, and then decide on the garage door

Some others,

This one is BM SeaPearl with copper or bronze gutters, and Iron Ore accent

This one, Iron Mountain and Revere Pewter

thanks you for your detailed response! This is really helpful!

I agree with Sigrid. All white or two whites if you are going for a timeless, "classy" look. Don't put a dreary gray on that lovely home! The gray trend is in late stages now.

Very much disagree that downspouts and gutters are not a feature. They can be eyeliner to the house. You have a beautiful home! I love the idea of painting the garage doors a deep color; a mid level color for the ”outside room”; deeper color for the facia; and deep color for the gutters and downspouts, maybe even cooper (if it fits the budget) which would look great on the front of your house too.

Good luck!

Here are a few white exterior options to see what combinations appeal to you:

Eye is drawn to the lightest color - paint the garage doors a darker color - match house or darker. Same color as front and side door is what most people do.

Paint the exterior room a light color.

I agree with the folks that say downspouts should blend with the walls. Gutters should be the color of the fascia. A painting pro told me, and I agree.....when you are using 2 or 3 colors, do not pick the "next" one on the paint card. They will look the same when you apply them to the house. So, be sure to go a little beyond your comfort zone withn selecting colors. Go 2 or 3 shades difference, so people can actually notice the differene. PS: I LOVE gray, and have ever since I discovered it in 2001. It will not "trend out" for me. The neighbors should be glad you are not painting your house bright lemon yellow, with bright orange trim! We had a circus house nearby, and it was painful to see.

Lots of advice! Can't wait to see what you choose. Please post after photos, thank you

For garage and spouts I would pick a contrast color neither white or light grey . Maybe dark charcoal black or dark beige

Hi Cheryl, What a beautiful home! When I looked at the front photo, I thought "no--it's beautiful and dramatic as is!" But you may think it's too dark? Before you buy 10+ gallons of paint, pick the shade of white you want to use--I'd keep it towards the yellow tones, not the gray/blue tones. Get a quart of it--you'll need enough to test the color anyway. Instead of painting the base of your house, paint the corner blocks and the stucco trim around the windows. They are both features and are meant to "stand out." If you like how it brightens up the front of your home, consider keeping the base color and just painting out the trim.

The black front door is not true to the style of your home. If it's wood, consider having a professional company strip it down to raw wood and stain it...nothing darker than a cinnamon color. There was a trend a while ago to paint doors and entryways a very dark color to make them look recessed, but your front door is already deeply recessed, and the black paint just makes it disappear. The first photo that "corriewisco" posted above--the white base with the wood & glass front doors---THAT wood color is what you are looking for. If it's a steel/fiberglass door, you still want to take it to a pro and have it "dipped" to remove all paint, and a talented painter can paint it with graining tool brushes to make it look like wood. While you are getting estimates for stripping and staining/painting the front doors, check out the price of a new door--wood or wood-look with glass inserts. The big box stores carry some beautiful custom doors that have black wrought-iron scrollwork behind the glass. It will echo the black wrought iron railing on the 2nd story. Weigh your options here--if it is an antique door (100+ years old) strip it and stain. If it is fiberglass, it's not antique and not worth preserving. If you send out the door to be stripped, you'll have to put another door in place for the whole time of stripping and staining. A new door can be hung in a couple hours.

Once you have to front door in the proper wood stain, use that same color to paint the ceiling of your front porch--it will go a long way towards brightening up the porch and making it not so "cave-like." Try these three things first before you hire someone to paint your entire house. Changing the door color is a must anyway, as is the porch ceiling. The corner blocks and stucco window trim--hey, you need to do a test patch for the right color white anyway, right?

Keep the downspouts the same color as the wall they are on. The bump-out on the back of the house above garage--keep it same color as the house. You do not want to draw attention to it because it is already getting plenty of attention with it's size. At some point, you may want to install black wrought iron scrollwork on both sides of the bump-out, from each corner of bump-out to the corner of the house. A nice, soft inside curve would really look great, and go a long way towards making the bump-out not so "in your face" and attacking you. Similar to a Juliette balcony--it's not structural, just decorative. You'll want it installed at "floor level" on the bump-out, and come up higher than the bottom of the windows. Oh, and another window on the right side would really help with balance. Double windows, both sides.

For the garage doors, if you are a decent painter, you can get a graining tool and some stippling brushes and paint your garage doors to match your front door. If not, then get the house painter to do it. When the kids are grown and out of the house--or not playing basketball anymore--you can consider changing out the garage doors to a wood look carriage house style. The wood look garage doors, whether you have the current ones painted or if you get new ones, will look great with the current house color OR with a creamy white that you are considering. The beck of your house definitely needs some trim, it's quite plain and a stark difference from the front of the house. If you put some trim up and paint it the same white as the corner blocks at the front of the house, it will go a long way towards brightening it up. The wood look garage doors will really pop with white trim around them, same with the windows on the 2nd story.

Good luck, happy painting, and let us know what you chose!

Please do not paint the samples on your house anywhere. Use poster paper for the samples, and pin one of each color on all sides of the house. That way, you will see what the colors are all in different types of lighting.

cat_ky, Cheryl wants to paint her house white. She needs to choose the proper shade AND sheen before she commits to coloring 15 gallons. She's going to have to paint the corner blocks anyway when and if she paints the base of the house. Poster paper is going to blow off the corner blocks, or get damp with dew and fall off. Save the poster paper for the INSIDE of the house--where it doesn't rain.

Lovely home! You could consider applying Hardie Board uniform shake panels to the bottom third of the outcropping that projects over the garage doors in the rear of your home. I would paint the Hardie Board the same color as the garage doors…. Consider decorative framing at the very bottom, including the surface beneath the overhang.

P.S. Your home is situated between two white homes. I still like the gray-brown color with the lighter trim …