The new paint is a wonderful improvement over the bland look of the older exterior. I don't see any yellow tint on my monitor, just an attractive buff color. gk5040's suggestions of a softer creamy white for the window trim would help tone down your paint job, if you choose to do that. I agree that I'd try working with other elements, (trim, shutters, door color, etc.), before repainting the whole house!

I second the idea of not repainting the house. It looks so much nicer than before, the darker color really nestles the house into the landscape, and it has a put-together, neat look. It is hard to tell how the color reads in person, but I should think changing the trim to a softer shade would do a lot. Also, changing the color of the shutters could be the fix (maybe a deep sage-grey?)and add more of a feel. I think a window box under your 3-window section would look so nice, too.

I understand the freakout after painting- it took me over a year to look at my house and not cringe(saybrook sage with black shutters). The color just finally looked right. If you want a change now do the trim & shutters- I really think you can work with the house color.

I would definately NOT repaint. I think it looks beautiful! I am needing to paint my house as well and yours is going into my idea folder. Thanks.

How long have you lived with it? I have a room in Decatur Buff, and the color changes quite a bit depending on the amount of sunlight, and whether it is day or night...sometimes it's tan, or gold, or greenish, or cream. I'd follow all of the great suggestions above - and then live with it for awhile. View it at different times of the day and evening before making a decision.

Determined Sammie,

It's been painted for about a month. I agree that Decatur Buff looks totally different depending on the light. I don't mind the color on cloudy days, but when the sun hits the house it is bright and very gold/yellow.

In the pic it looks very gold, so I can see where it might look like a red/gold thing and accentuate the roof color. Those roofing colors are hard to work with. Maybe it will help to see something tinted differently.

I seem to end up with the beige-y colors, basically cool, but some with a little warmth or even a bit of the roof color in it, if you can see it. Of course, our monitors all show differently. The one pic shows the roof very orange, and the other more red/pink.

Did you do the big swatches in different lighting conditions beforehand? Maybe paint the gutters too?

{{!gwi}}

From what I see in the pics, I like it and can see how you pulled out the lighter color of the roof.
As someone mentioned above, I'd first paint the trim a creamy white and maybe repaint the shutters. I can't tell if they're eggplant or a reddish brown..........but on my monitor they look more like eggplant and don't seem to compliment the house color.

I have Decatur Buff in most of my inside rooms and it is very gold in the sunlight. When I saw your post saying that you had painted your homes outside DB, I thought to myself..."Oh no...that's not going to be a pretty sight." lol However, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it actually looks good. Try the above suggestions and live with the paint for while. Let the paint cure good.

PS - I think that your front shutters are too small for that large window. They need to be wider for that wall space.

What do your neighbors think of the paint?

Some of the thoughts above incorporated. I think you need to complete your color scheme. Creamy trim instead of the white and also distribute more of the brown/red color to the house. Works for me, anyway, to make it look more cohesive:

Full view of house paint:

With cream trim (can paint the windows too?) :

Rich color shutter, similar to the roof:

With door color:

I think the paint color is great! What I don't care for is the color of the shutters. They read kind of purpley-brown on my monitor.

I would do the shutters in a rich black. Then do the door in a deeper red shade that compliments the roof color, but is darker. I think painting the garage door the house color is a great idea, as someone suggested.

I don't see the white trim as a problem.

What I meant to say was that the shutter and trim colors can really change the way the body color looks. If you haven't checked out the personal color viewer at the Benjamin Moore website, give it a shot. There are some pictures of houses and you can change the body, trim & shutter colors on them. Find a color that looks like your house does at its worst & brightest, and then play around with shutter and trim colors to see what tones it down. I tried that with a goldy tan and noticed a charcoal grey with olive or sage in it looked good on the shutters, with a cream trim. But your color is probably totally different. Anyway, it can help you determine what will work, or whether you'd rather repaint.

The color viewer can be a pain, because the colors don't really match the color on the paint chips in real life, but you can try to match up a real paint chip to what you see on the monitor.

I had the same dilemma as you- my house looked great on cloudy days and on the shadier sides of the house. When the full sun hit the front, my sage looked lime-y. I couldn't stomach it. I wanted to repaint the black shutters to calm the body color, but DH thought I was crazy. 1 1/2 years later, and I swear the paint color has toned down (or maybe I have). But do try the color viewer.

I vote for black shutters and a deep brownish red door also. See how that looks before painting the trim. I would live with it for a year before deciding to repaint. On my monitor it looks great!

Thank you all so much for the advice!!!!!! I really appreciate it!

I agree that the house may look better with cream trim, but the reason we chose BM Simply White is because it matches our vinyl replacement windows. I was afraid that a cream trim would look dirty against white windows. What do you think?

The shutter color is BM Clinton Brown. It's a very dark warm brown that actually matches the roof color when you see it in real life (at least I think it does, but I could be wrong).

I tried to take another picture today because it's a little sunnier. I think it shows a little more of the gold color I was talking about...
{{!gwi}}
Here's a picture that shows the shutter color a little better...
{{!gwi}}

Also, we aren't really concerned with the garage because we are actually going to make it into finished living space like this (photoshop pic)
{{!gwi}}

I guess my biggest questions right now are will cream trim look dirty with white vinyl windows? Also, does anyone have any suggestions for a tan color that would work with our roof color? We have Bleeker Beige and Manchester tan inside our house and I like both of those colors a lot but they may be too cool for such a warm roof.

Thanks so much for all your help!!!

PS-The house looked like this a year ago when we bought it. It was so ugly with all the awnings and pink siding. It think it's come a long way, especially since we've done all the work our selves (completely renovated inside)but I just wish I could look at the outside and say that I really loved the color.
{{!gwi}}

I see what you mean about the gold undertone coming out in the sun. However I think the base color is still, overall, really nice.

Your shutters are not functional, they never could be (2 little shutters for a 3-wide window?). Why not take them down and then experiment with window trim color...this solves your problem of matching/not matching/looking dirty against your white vinyl windows. I love that 5-wide (shutterless) window next to the front door. You could then add a third color for soffits/gutters if you felt bold.

I'm not sure what roofing color you actually have, but it looks very similar to one that goes up around here in your closeup shot, and it rarely works (with our colors and house styles). It almost looks like an unweathered wood shingle, a tan/orangey color. The longshots look different, in each above, but it's still a limiting roof color. The only house I've actually seen it on where it worked well, in that type of traditional style, was a creamy beige type body and reddish shutters, so that all the colors had a similarity and harmonized; blended rather than offset.

There is a house combination near me that looks quite like your new gold shots, and it just doesn't work. If you really don't care for it, I'd change it to something you love, since that sounds like a possibility.

With the windows, you might want to just stick with the white if the capping can't be painted. If the capping can be painted, maybe a pale beige rather than a cream, although it might make the windows themselves more pronounced and they don't appear to have trim detailing (as in, blending all together, as one, would be better).

Very nice house, the addition looks nice : )

I like both colors. I love the lighter color but the Decatur Buff is fine. I can understand based on some of the same statements by Squirrel. I wonder if you will like the Decatur Buff this fall and winter when it will look warmer and cozier. I think it is a shame we cannot all have a change of colors when the weather turns hot or cold. :)

My DIL has a whole house full of Decatur Buff so I can understand the color changes from room to room and from season to season. Can you live with it through winter and then decide if you want to change it come spring?

Thank you all again, especially squirrelheaven for taking the time to photoshop pictures!!!!! I think I'm going to talk to DH tonight about repainting it. I don't think I can live with the color...I really just don't like it. We haven't painted the back yet, so at least it won't be like we have to paint the entire house all over again.

Now I just have to decide on the color. I hope I get it right this time. Any suggestions?

I was out and about, roof on the brain, and saw some that may be similar to yours -- more brick-like than the tan/oj I was talking about. There were some monochromatic schemes, with a simple white, which were pretty and a buffy kind of color, too. Something like the below. Maybe the first one is what's sometimes called a clay color, and the second is a buff. Monochromatic with the roof. I made the roof color in between the two pics first posted.

Personally, I think it looks very striking and beautiful. Nice and cheerful, too.

{{!gwi}}

Go to www.colorcharts.org and search "taupe." Look under the Behr taupe colors. There are two there that I think would look really nice on your house.

If you repaint, my suggestion is to paint the color you've chosen on at least two side of the house and cover at least a 3'x3' section. Stare at it a day or so before making your decision. Place the sample next to the shutters and window trim if you're keeping those colors.

Just painted my kitchen in Decatur buff.. It is "gold".. I think unless everyone has seen this color they don't get the real affect of it.. It is brighter than what shows.. I have been trying to get a beige/gold color and it's not easy as some in different light show up differently.. Your house in Decatur buff goes with the roof that is there now, it's the accent color that will pull it all together.. I would experienment with different shutter colors. Some will soften the decatur..

Oh, I really, really like the color! I think you should keep it. I also think that painting the shutters black would "crisp" it up a bit. But I LOVE the new color! The painters just finished painting the exterior of our house yesterday, and while it wasn't exactly the color I was imagining, I can't imagine repainting it!!!!! My dh would definitely flip if I even considered it!

I see what you mean with the new photo. Since this a new house for you you probably have landscaping on your list of 'things to do' anyway, adding the right plantings will make a world of difference in the curb appeal. Picture the house with some 'Rosy Glow Barbary' and other reddish color plantings in front of it. Keep the green plantings you already have and add more reds of different species in front of them and along the house on the right. Plantings that match the roof and hide some of the sides will make it come together.

I'm confused are the shutters the light color or the brown? whichever, I would try to re-paint shutters a shade more like the roof, which appears more coppery brown and I'd also paint the front door in the new color also.

I agree with the others - I think the paint color looks nice it is the shutters that are not doing it for me. Perhaps painting them another color may compliment the buff a bit more to your liking.

But it is your home and if you for even a small amount are not happy about it...repaint it.

I like both the house colour and the shutters as you've painted them, but agree that the trim would be better in a creamy colour, perhaps even a very light tan.

Your roof has a LOT of red in it. If you have a stray shingle, I would take it to a paint store or one of the big box stores and have them analyze the colour. You may be surprised at the dominant pigments in your roof. Knowing that will steer you towards colours that are more complementary.

Having said that, I do not really care for the roof colour. If the roof is old or will be replaced in the next few years, I would select the roof colour you plan to use and then select your paint based on that. I think a lighter brown would be nice with your existing colour scheme, but to me your house is crying out for a light charcoal roof, grey paint and crisp white trim, and black shutters. :)