Is the roof a solid colour grey? Are you also painting the siding portion or will it remain white? I like the blue and greys in this photo and it would compliment your brick colour.

every thing will be painted. the rendering shows the current scheme. however, it really accentuates the off white from the white. it looks like it is more or less one color.

I will be adding Bermuda Shutters to the second story corner windows and plan to paint those an accent color.

I had thought of gray for the stucco, but I was not sure how dark I should go.

the roof from a distance photographs darker than it appears upclose.

the attached rendering shows it with Bermuda shutters in a dark gray or black. the stucco is a charcoal gray.

the other image attached is the roof on the garage from a distance. the roof on the garage, which is in the backyard is more visible than the roof of the house.

I like the blue grays.

there are so many shades of gray. ha!

I'm not opposed to a color other than grey. however, I really need to be able to live with it for a, long time. ha!

the second rendering that I posted has the stucco on the pilasters in white to match the the siding on the second flooring. this was my architect's suggestion.

I would do individual Roman shades on the windows. I used vignette modern shades by Hunter Douglas on my bay window. they are not as puffy and look more tailored than other types of Roman shades. I am also putting a cushion in my window. here is my bay window with the shades down.

Kelly, you have a hollywood regency style home . . my concern about the charcoal is that it will be darker than the roof - that would be okay for a trim tone, but not ideal for the body of the house. Defiitely think we want to stay away from blue grays on the body - unless we get to something blue-green gray and that might rather be an accent color . .

Also, knowing what colors you have inside, I want to investigate something in that will come up to the level of elegance you are after here and give you more flow. Can you show me a picture of your front door? I'm interested in the style of it .

my first front door is glass. the second door is a slab door that is 2.5" thick.

I am in the process of finishing the door and exterior.

there is a reason for this unusual front door configuration. when I started the renovation, there was a plan to take out a few houses at the end of my street to expand the 405 freeway, which would have increased the noise level exponentially. I wanted the glass door for light and the second door for soundproofing. the sidelights and clerestory have two dual glaze panels with about 8" of dead airspace between them.

I had thought of doing something wild like mounting a large beveled edge mirror on the slab door. just a thought. ha!

I am open to suggestions.

before the renovation, there used to be really deep exterior entry way that collected debris brought by the wind. I enclosed it and moved front doors to current position.

Ok - here's the thing. Blue grays will fight with the stone and the brick - they will make the brick look more orange and they won't match the stone either. These camoflauge undertone grays - they have olive elements that will make the brick and the stone look right and great together.

for the stucco - bm arctic shadows

Upper siding trim - exterior must go a little deeper -in a warm dark white - rich -bm evening white

Front door - (and any rear yard french doors you want to call attention to - bm aegean olive

http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/arcticshadows

http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/eveningwhite

http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/aegeanolive

Take the white to your pillars - it is a real stone color (stucco always looks best in a color you find on stones in nature - another issue with blues here)

Buy some rustoleum oil rubbed bronze spray paint - mask and spray out your stair railing (classic hollywood!), any light fixtures you keep, metal mailboxes, numbers, even door hardware.

I'm planning to keep the plaster lights and door hardware in polished chrome. I spent to much on powder coating them. ha! I will paint or replace the railing on the house as well as the metal roof on the bay window.

I have thought about staining the brick.

I am not a fan of the orange red brick.

the brick under the bay window does not really match the chimney's brick. it appears to be darker and have less of an orange hue than what is on the chimney.

any thoughts on stain for the fireplace?

Well, I finally have made some headway with the exterior of my duplex.

I have ordered Bermuda shutters for the upper front six corner windows. I still need to select a paint color for the shutters.

I've painted the stucco twice. it is currently Sherwin Williams Silverpointe. Initially, i painted it Sherwin Williams Fleur de Sel, which looked yellow and it should not have. The siding on the second story is Sherwin Williams Oyster Bay. I initially painted the siding Sherwin Williams Sea Salt, which is beautiful color, but ita reflective value was too similar to the Fleur De Sel and Silverpointe.

The trim is extra white as is the lower story entry and the Bay window.

I could use some suggestions on colors for the bay window's metal awning.

also, I have not painted the stair railing and could use some ideas for that.

in addition to the current stair railing, i have a floor to ceiling wrought iron privacy panel with sandblasted glass that will replace the railing parallel to the second story entry. I will need to paint the wrought iron for this panel as well.

I also will have a pair of gates between the pilasters that will be wrought iron with sandblasted glass panels.

the driveway will also have a wrought iron gate with sandblasted glass panels.

to the the left of the stair case, there will be the garbage enclosure with sandblasted glass panels.

I have not picked a new color for second story door.

I'm open for finish / color changes to the pilasters lights. the powder coat on them has not held up very well consider that they area just three years old.

as it is now, the duplex could use something to give it a pop. I hope the Bermuda shutters and metal work over the glass panels will add some pop.

I will be redoing the landscaping as well. however, I will be keeping the creeping fig cover retaining wall since I suspect that I will be removing part of the grass to cut down on water use..

More images

Kelly - from my perspective, the wrought iron is going to be best in a metal finish rather than paint - the people who are fabricating them for you can consult on it. Your pilaster lights appear to be a stainless / brushed silver sort of finish and I'm seeing that is the best way to go with the new elements as well - stay in the art deco silvery tones and you'll get the best result. . your sandblasted glass is going to read white . .Consider a metallic rustoleum product on the existing rail that is staying to echo.

As for the door on 2 - staying with extra white there is fine - it is a secondary door. Painting it a color won't likely show through the new panel though, so if you wanted a tone, you could go that way.

With the Bermuda shutters, an easy choice is tonal deep gray green for contrast but harmony . . bm millstone gray seems right . . http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/millstonegray

Would like to see that tone or the slightly lighter shade - intrigue on the stair and railing in the back . . http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/intrigue#ce_s=intrigue

A metallic gray / silver gray with rustoleum would echo the new iron work and be the most modern and art deco all at the same time. They won't provide a lot of contrast however so won't give you any pop either. White would be the same.

Remember that most grays are going to turn blue on you. If you want a navy charcoal sort of look, bm lead gray is a good one. These feels a little trendy for me on this classic Hollywood style duplex though . . .

If you are looking for a bit of a wow factor and you want some color. . consider the deep eggplant tones. bm autumn purple comes to mind . . it will be dark enough to provide contrast, won't be bright enough to feel trendy but it will up close be unique . . this would make a gorgeous front door color, (though on the entry i'd lighten it up a shade or so)

http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/autumnpurple

thank you libradesign.

I was going with rusroleum silver finish on the railings, but I have been having a heck of time finding enough it. I can find enough aluminum or maybe enough glossy smoke grey. I thought that the previous color was a silver rustoleum and not glossy. I went to three paint stores on Friday and Saturday and they seem to be short on grey/silver colors in quarts and gallons.

I think that I'm going for the homburg grey that is on the back stairs on the awning. they are coming on the bit to get it done. ha!

I understand the fading of the paint on the metal. to get any contrast with the glass, the smoky grey rusroleum would be better than aluminium. out of despair and lack of the rustoleum grey colors, I had been pondering SW west Chester grey, which is close to the RGB code for gunmetal grey.

what ever color that is painted on the metal will fade as you pointed out. I'm thinking about the long term. thus, the faded color has to be good too. so the undertones are key since they will be prominent when the metal fades.

the pilaster lights are a silver blue powder coat that was supposed to have looked like chrome, which they never did. as they fade, they look like galvanized ten. I expected the powder coat to have maintained its finish longer than three years.

well, the railing and wrought iron is going to be Rustoleum glossy smoke gray for the moment.

the only other alternative was Rustoleum aluminum.

I had thought about mixing a glossy hunter green with the aluminum to see what that might look like, but I kept it simple by going with a standard color.

It looks very nice and btw, it does not look remuddled in the least. Good choices!

thank you, emmarene.

Kelly - of the rustoleum choices for gray, smoke gray does appear the deeper shade so perhaps on that score thebest but lighter than you want and rather blue as it fades .. sorry, I don't think you will be happy with it.

I believe they will mix up the rustoleum paint in a BM color for you if you desire it. You might try a deeper gray green like the bm colors I posted. Hang in there - its' just paint.

yep, it is just paint! fortunately it will not be a a challenge to repaint. i.stripped 70 years of paint and rust off of it a few years ago. never again! ha! I think that it may be ok. im not sure if it is OK for the new wrought iron.

I actually like the color. it is not a metal finish that I had wanted, but I think that I can live with it.

Seems to work.

It picks up on the slate color in your stair cladding at the entry . . it is just such a pretty shape.

The Bermuda Shutters are now installed. they are painted SW jasper stone. All the wrought iron is painted Rustoleum's glossy smoke grey. The 2nd floor privacy panel in the best image was painted Rustoleums aluminum. Im fairly content with the paint colors. I'm contemplating new powder coat color for my pilaster lights. they have not weathered very well. I ended up using etched plexiglass for the gates and panels. I'm trying to decide on a little more fencing and gate and landscaping since I am putting a stone tile path that slopes down to the driveway. I prefer that people have to call me from the intercom mounted on the pilaster for me to let them enter tell gate than he saver them walk up to my front door.

one landscaping detail that I am I would like some feedback on is a pergola that would extend the width of my raised yard and would be wide enough to cover the pilasters. I want it's height to be even with the houses raised bands that divide the two story facade. It would posistion a piece of plexiglass over the two pilasters and gates to provide them some protection from the elements. I would most like plant wisteria and/and or yellow lady banks climbing rose to grow up and cover the pergola. does anybody have any thoughts about a pergola?

today we are applying stucco to a block wall that seoarates the property from the property west of it.