Thank you. I think white porch columns are fine.

Emmett Thanks for the compliment ... you should have seen the "before." We used satin finish on both the body and trim. We have a deep front porch and that was the primary reason we did not use a darker body color - so it would not look like a cave. I am looking forward to hearing about your progress with the samples. Be sure to keep us updated!

We have been in our new home in Okatie, SC for 6 months. We were looking for a gray/beige/taupe that did not look battleship gray, pinky taupe, or brown/khaki. We found BM Revere Pewter and had SW match(it's in their system). Others can color match as well. It is perfect for us. Very warm and has more depth and color than the chip. For darker shades, BM Thunder and BM Pashmina are also very nice. Good luck.

Martha, your house is beautiful and I agree taupe and brown would not work as you have a southern style home. Browns work with a craftsman style home.

I am supporting previous comments that the only way to know how it will look is to sample; either directly on the house or using large sample boards. Then you can see the color as the light changes and make adjustments. It is a small investment and good insurance before painting the entire house. Good luck!

Hold your samples next to the stonework on your porch and pull your shades from there. I love the colours you have chosen.

Thanks everyone! We are going to paint the strips on the house this coming week and will keep you posted. Your comments and opinions have proven invaluable and we are going bold! I am going to Costa Rica for a week, to give my poor husband a break from all this "taupe obsessing". He can now obsess over Snow Fall versus Moon Rise whites. Ha! I will get to see the results a week from now. :)

Taupe main color with white trim and a cranberry colored door. That's what I did on one of my homes and it was amazing.

SW has some great sales if you are not in need of the paint right away. We bought our paint at 35% or 40% off during one of the big sales. The guys at the store told me when it was going to happen and I waited to buy until then.

When we painted our home, I went to Sherwin Williams and looked through the books and brochures until I found a picture of a house that looked like what I wanted my house to look like. In the past I had simply looked at the paint chips and it the finished product never looked like what I thought it would. Seeing the finished project in a photo really helped.

be sure to hold colors next to stone work to get a good look.

Just an FYI...we used Behr Marquee paint recently and did not like it. I do a ton of painting and did not like the texture of it. Too thick and goopy and the coverage was not even that great. Definitely not worth the extra cost, in my opinion. I'd go with Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams. Good luck with whatever you decide, and please post AFTER pics!

We really learned about choosing not just paint color but finish when when recently painted out home. I had been carrying around a beautiful soft green for years that had to be The One. Got a sample mixed at the store and put it up to great disappointment. Got 6 others choices that were worse. The appointed day was coming and we were in panic mode, the painter came and looked and said that many times samples come in a satin finish. Sure enough, we got that loved color up in a flat finish and it was perfection!

So you want to paint the body of the house taupe and darker on the trims.... You say you want lots of contrast. Well the way it is now is more contrast than the taupe. I think it looks better if you leave it the way it is. Just do the nice red door.

I would also get rid of the stone on the entrance pillars by covering them over, white box with trim, all white. Maybe instead of taupe I would do a soft grey with lots of white trim work along with white pillars. Red door .... That would look great. In my opinion fresh crisp, lots of contrast. Better than taupe muddy colours

One more suggestion, over the front door a frame do nice black script style writing of the house number and address spelled out... " one eight two maple avenue" for example

Something people need to remember is that some lighter shades will look faded out on a bigger home wall. I went with a darker shade for my "light" shade than expected for the body of the house. I learned this because the first shade looked pukey in a wall-sized expanse!

Well- trial run!! Here is the "sample" color with Studio Taupe & red door.

Closer up shot of Studio Taupe

Studio Taupe on the body, with SW Warm Stone on the triangle as accent color.

Just gorgeous - what a welcoming home!!! I'd like to see a shot that includes the stairs - it looks so different from the original - fantastic choices!!!

You read my mind - thanks! Wow, what a difference! I love, love, love it. You?

Dear Ward Designs-thanks!!! Your advice on stripping the oil paint was invaluable! What a tedious and time consuming step. That old blue-grey paint was a 1/4 " thick. Lots of cleaning and repair on every 100 yr old board at each step as well. Here is pic with stairs included for you. So much yet to do & the weather turned on us!

Thanks to EVERYONE for the help & guidance here. Final paint colors on this trial include Behr Marquee Studio Taupe satin finish (body), Behr Marquee Moon Rise semi-gloss (white trim) and Sherwin Williams Warm Stone on the offsets (darker triangle & upstairs dormers)

Wow, what a huge difference that makes! Looks good with the stone. Great choice on the door, too. Remember to post photos when you get the whole thing done.

emmetthouseremodel - you're welcome. It is a lot of work, but well worth it. Can you imagine if you painted it with the wrong paint and had to start all over again a year later?
Nightmares are made of things like this! LOL
(It always feels better when you do it right)! Good luck with the rest. Hope the weather holds up for you....

Looks good! Keep it going!

Nice!

Weather turned good for a few days- the painting push is on again!! :)

Looking good!

Next step done!! The weather really turned now- its winter! Next step spring!

Looks fabulous and when the snow has fallen it'll shine like a gem.....

fabulous

Looks beautiful!

Love the way it turned out! Good Show!

Stunning! Congratulations. It looks beautiful. Definitely worth all the effort you put in to getting it just right.

The front window now needs to get "dressed up" with shutters and possibly the lower wainscoting piece. i don't know what the lower piece is called when you add that. Ideas?
All of your opinions have been so helpful and my husband is finally impressed and obsessed with Houzz. now he understands why i explore it constantly :)

Beautiful house!!

Oh, no shutters. The window looks great the way it is!

Wow. I am not a fan of taupe/khaki at all but this place really looks nice. Don't you dare put shutters on those windows. It looks fabulous as-is!

Fantastic!!!!

Looks like you chose warm stone for accents? I've seen that color on a red brick house and it was great in that situation too. Love that color!

NO no no shutters - leave it as is! It's gorgeous - don't clutter the simple elegant look you've achieved!

WOW-- OK- no shutters!! :) LOL! thanks for the good advice!!

Perhaps a small red tree or bush on the left?? :)

10 inches of snow!! Last paint of the season- we got the back side body done- no trim- whaaa...but progress made!

Very pretty! Good choices! I love seeing the before and afters. Congrats!

The real "befores" are really really scary!!

Dear Ward Designs- u r right! It looks good under snow- even half painted. Thx again!

Hello DDD Seattle St Croix Bangkok Ft Worth Ce - Love reading all about your start to finish paint project! I am on the search for the perfect paint colors to go with Virtual Taupe. Our homeowner's association requires us to use Sherwin Williams and they give us 18 different color schemes to choose from. I like their color scheme with Virtual Taupe as the body color and Accessible Beige as the trim color. The dilemma we have is that we have wood shakers on our house that need a darker solid stain color. (see picture) The recommended stain is Spicewood but that looks too red brown to me. I want to find a dark, rich brown that would compliment the Virtual Taupe. Nothing too maroon/red and nothing too green. Do either of you, with Ward Designs have any suggestions since you are a "Taupe expert"? Our house is currently painted with a dark and light gray. Thank you, Lisa