to me, a roof is a roof, unless you have one of those really bright metal ones. but everyone is into matchie matchie now. is the column black? is part of the garage and the other end of the house black? I think I would like to go lighter with the majority of the house? do you have any favorite colors?

Great little house! I would go with a deep taupe. I think it would still match your trim and the brick, ( is it black? Dark brown? Deep red?) Adding a bit more landscaping would give your home additional dimension. Good luck!

Yes, I agree, a lighter color it what it needs. We were thinking a beige or light tan would look better. The corners of the house and the column are painted a really dark shade of brown. Just not sure how to coordinate with a red roof.

Thanks for your comments.

Thanks woronas, hadn't considered deep taupe. The house is all dark shades of brown right now. Yes, it desperately needs landscaping, that's last on the list of work to be done.

Our house is similarly shaped... just a 1960 ranch and we used a sage green siding and with ivory trim and painted the front door tomato red. WE LOVE IT and get lots of compliments on the colors!

I was looking at homes with white trim, are you leaving the white gutters and white windows as is? Inspiration photos. If you want to downplay the red roof, don't choose colours opposite the color wheel, any hint of green paint will make the red look even stronger. Choose colours with a brown base, there are lovely greys that are grey/beige. Tans will certainly compliment.

The 3rd photo is Benjamin Moore Cromwell Gray HC-103, the 4th Benjamin Moore Raccoon Hollow 978. The last photo is Benjamin Moore Berkshire Beige AC-2

Will probably keep the gutters a light color, the windows too. Thanks Bette P for your suggestions love the beige idea. Should we accent the brick or paint it to blend with the body? The photos you posted help a bunch. :)

Thanks Kim Dake, your home is adorable. I hope we can get this one to look half as cute as yours.

ok, I do like the sage green look. back home, fl, we had a rancher we painted it close to Behr soft buttercup p290-1, Then we did all the trim in a medium slate blue, like Poseidon s480-6. If you go to Behr and input those colors they have a rancher similar and you can put the colors on the walls and trim to see what you think. they do not allow me to transfer for some reason. Everyone loved it. It was different then all the other homes which were beige,white, and sage. but not in your face kind of different. You can still paint the door in most colors and will go fine.

Thanks havingfun......will look at Behr colors too.

This house definitely needs lightening up, I would paint it a light Caribbean blue with white trim and make the wood trim above the garage look like re-purposed old wood as well as the garage door. Then it needs a awesome color for the front door, like a yellow or coral color to give it pop, right now in the picture you can't even see the door its dark. The picture location looks like the house is in Florida or Texas along the coast because of the sand in the front yard which need landscaping but that's another story.

Yes, it is a Florida home and it definitely needs grass and plants. Thanks for your ideas whyd!

Sherwin-Williams has a couple of exterior scenes that I think would look nice:

The "Warm Neutral" scheme (photo after color list). I'd paint your...

Trim: Pavillion Beige, SW 7512

Brick and siding: Homestead Brown, SW 7515

Main color: Tavern Taupe, SW 7508

Front door: Rustic Red, SW 7593

The "Yellows" scheme (photo below). I'd paint your...

Trim: Eaglet Beige, SW 7573

Brick and siding: Resort Tan, SW 7550

Main color: Stonebriar, SW 7693

Front door: Indigo Batik, SW 7602

Thank you pleballerina......love them both!

ok, I am a long time fl girl. I like both above, but the top is too dark and bottom I would like to see in your sunlight first.

I was going to suggest what woronas suggested. Our neighbor just changed their siding from a light blue to a deeper taupe (a light taupe is too light) and it is spectacular. I got a bid for the same color (Currently gray) because it really made the house more natural as if it grew from nature and clean. I know a lot of houses like yours are that dark red / brown. A lighter color will bring out the beauty of the house's design.

This could be really interesting
A little miner landscaping to add more Deminsion
Paint stone out light grey
Trim around windows white
Exterior walls Lamp Room Grey Farrow and Ball
Crofts Interiors Vineland Ontario Canada

Kim, our cabin in northern Michigan has the same color siding and trim. I've been playing with the Sherwin-Williams website for door colors. I had thought about going with the reds, but, when I took a close-up photo of our siding and enlarged it, I found out there are tiny dots of blue in it along with browns. I'm thinking of a dusty blue for my doors. I do love the color of your door, though and am thinking of going that route for our log home.

My son-in-law owns a painting company and he says he's getting tired of the taupe and pale grays that everyone wants. I have seen the trend in the new subdivisions and am wondering when color will be returning. He painted one house yellow two summers ago and thought the people were crazy until he stood back down the street and saw what they were up to. All the houses on the street were pale tans and grays. Guess who's house stands out nicely now - the yellow house.

David, upload your photo to the Sherwin-Williams site and play with it. You can save and share the photos with the colors. I'd like to see what you can do and I definitely would lighten up the house itself and maybe try two different colors like it is now.

Maybe I'll use your photo to play. I'm real curious. ;-) It's the art degree in me......

If there is a division at the entry, I would paint the two walls the lightest color of the pallet you are choosing. It's so dark now, you can't see the definition.

If you put color blocking in exterior in Houzz, you will see the effect of color blocking. You could have some fun with it. Actually, now that I look at your photo again, it is color blocked, just too dark.

As soon as I saw the pix of your house, I thought that the colour combo I used might look great on your house, too. Originally, the eaves & downspout were a light beige, but I painted the eaves dark brown and blended the colour of the downspout into the colour of the brick. The windowns were also a light beige, but I had them replaced with windows that match the colour of the trim & garage doors. Because my front door is stained a dark red, I think this type of colour combo would work well with your home. Good luck!

Brick: Benjamin Moore
Aura “Flagstone”, CC-516 (Taupe/Beige)

Trim: Benjamin Moore
Aura “Mink”, 2112-10 (Dark Brown)

I'm a Native Floridian and this is one of the darkest homes I've ever seen. Whew!

I do think the advice on the taupe hues of paint is correct for a dark red roof. However, you MUST get rid of the stark white trim as it is too great of a contrast with the dark red roof. It cheapens the house. You can still keep the trim lighter but in the taupe family. It will soften the transition to the dark red roof.

Once you have repainted then any landscaping you do will show up against a lighter background. Right now, you would be wasting your money, as you can barely make out the small shrubbery that is already there.

This home can look really beautiful with the right color palette and you were smart to ask for advice. Good luck with it.

I think that putting in the new frosted glass garage doors with metal frame would continue the horizontal windows, which are great. Extend drive to left for a parking space and wider entry I'd paint out the downspouts same as wall/column colors.

Landscaping: I'd plant some low gray growing varieties of junipers and reddish leaved cotoneaster with berries, small tree grove like birches 3-5 . Use lots of mulch and cut down the lawn area.

Take the color quiz on houzz...I did and it was right on!!!!!

This is interesting, when I was looking at the house, Taupe came immediately to my head. I just got reading , and it seems the majority feels the same way. I would paint it a medium taupe, and go a shad or 2 lighter for the trim, and a shad or 2 darker for the column and all that is already dark. Then, have fun with your door! Make it stand out! If you don't like it, you can always change it!

Please paint your downspouts to match the background.

P.S. if your roof is in good order keep the color of the roof you have until you absolutely have to change the roofing....... then have a blast picking from the colors and contours. FLA? hmmm - do you really need grass? maybe a Nice Large Water feature (pond with waterfalls from the left of the front of the house and lots of streams and other ponds that shift in levels.) Add some larger Frondy plants (I don't think that's a word) some taller palms for shade so no need for frequent water additions. In that region you won't need to go as deep as we do up here in Northern Illinois for winter - so your county / city ordinances will allow shallow ponds without fencing. AND then you can have fishes native to FLA fresh water as does my friend who lives in Vero Beach. That feature alone can save you on grass watering bills - AND enhance your area with native fauna (frogs, turtles, etc - EEEK - hopefully not alligators - hmmmm a little deeper and more brackish maybe a few Manatee might like to call your house their home too) Enjoy - Think outside the box on landscaping.... WHAT fun you will have!!! Thank you for letting us participate in your exciting journey in making your house your Home!

i would do the house white with light tan trim and bring dark red from roof color , for the window trim -- light tan trim color for shutters.

Add spotlights in the ground as well as ceeling to brighten up the place. a red or metal/silver door would look great.

I think it would look great either Benjamin Moore Berkshire Beige or Kendall Charcoal. With bright white trim on either. White and Kendall Charcoal look amazing. Crisp and pretty.

I was wondering about a very light buttery yellow to give the house a happier feel. Then with some yellow flowers, maybe a teal bench outside, this house would look lively.

Think about your undertones:

Taupe--red undertones

Beige--yellow undertones

Gray and brown--varies

If your roof will stay red-ish, and you chose taupe, you will end up with a monochrome exterior; the only contrast will come from the depth of color on the house compared to the roof.

Because green "complements" red perfectly, you will get contrast--and therefore interest--from pairing these colors. Plus, green is a neutral and is comes in a extensive range of colors--from light sages and spring greens (coastal vibes), to evergreens (country and cottage vibes)...

If it was my house I would choose a color with green undertones:

If you are to keep the white-trimmed windows, go for a coastal vibe.

If you change the exterior window trim to black, a less vibrant green would feel more appropriate.

Whatever you decide to do, coordinate the window trim with the space above the garage. Then choose an accent color for the wrap-around brick.

For the house to feel balanced and have interest do the following 1. House color 2. Accent color for the brick 3. Window trim color--which you'll also place in the triangle/wood siding space above the garage.

I vote keep the roof, and a new garage door wound be nice--if you can work it into the budget--because it really upgrades the look. And if you can geta wood one with similar undertones to your roof, the feel of the house would be less flat.

P.s. Something like the green posted by Kim Dake chould go either way--coastal or country.

groveraxle ....thank you for the photo, the colors are awesome! I love the modern look you gave the house, and the landscaping was an excellent touch.

Glad you like it, DavidKay. And let me implore you once more, whatever you finally decide, paint your downspouts to match. They are not a design element. Do not let them ruin the lines of your house.

I like that color combination, too groveraxle. I tried playing with those exact colors on the S-W site but couldn't locate the front door in the original photo then got distracted by some photos on houzz.

I'd go with a few different (mostly light) shades of grey. Working some reds into the landscaping will punch things up nicely.

DavidKay, I decided to revisit this house because I think it has a lot of potential for very little investment. Obviously it's way too dark. Let's lighten it enough to see the front door, with paint and/or light. I really like the charcoal brick and siding; you could do the current garage door in charcoal, too, perhaps a little lighter.

Here is a rendering with an unsaturated green which would pop the red in your roof a little more.

With sconces:

Our house has a bright red roof with Certainteed shake siding in the color hearthstone. It is a medium to dark brown with a hint of green undertone. We matched it to a SW paint color also. Add white trim and it pops. I just love it.

This is a closer look at the color. I think you shouldn't fight the roof color Keep the palette warm and landscape. There is enough gray going on everywhere.

Would you consider painting the left front post to match and blend into the house color? Then the right post and garage trim becomes more of a contemporary, asymmetrical, architectural design?

a nice light warm gray

A warm gray would work, just stay away from the blue or purple tones.

Charcoal dark gray (almost matte black) and black trim. LOTS of landscaping. The roof won't matter.

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