I know, people pay more for the red mulch, but I want something more natural that blends in. Also, I don't think the dye is good for the soil when it breaks down.

Your neighbours are going to love you. I'd go for mole's breath, but I love greys with depth.

I love lichen but not for the outside of the house. I may be prejudiced as we bought a green painted brick house and it stayed that way for 20 years and I hated it! Not as nice a color but still green...as I say, my personal experience may be showing here.

I like both the other colors but think they are a bit too dark. Perhaps use them 1/2 strength?

Moles Breath gets my vote

I like the lichen and don't mind it at all with the brick; it's a nice contrast. I've attached a couple of pics of our house, which is painted BM Camouflage. It's much lighter than the lichen, but we've had so many compliments on it. (sorry I couldn't find a "whole-house" pic.)

I think a light color would be really pretty.

Yes to Camouflage!!! That looks perfect!!. Keep the garage door white then.

I prefer the Camouflage also. You need a lighter color to contrast with the roof.

Respectfully disagree about the light colour. IMHO a light colour will look wishy washy with the brick and dark roof. On a bigger house with beefier trim it looks great, but I think this house needs a deeper colour (but not turquoise :)

I like the moles breath but feel like it's a little too cool for the warmth of the trim. Maybe go just a bit warmer (and deeper as others have suggested) with the roof and brick color but stay with the gray. I think your mother is right about the lichen and greens. It would be nice for a door color or something for accent but not the whole house, especially with the length of your house in particular. That's going to look so much better. And yes, please get rid of the red mulch!

Is anyone else really bothered by the name "mole's breath"? It does not evoke any attractive visuals for me.

My house is painted a color similar to mole's breath and our door is turquoise. Our trim is a cool white. We get lots of compliments and the combo makes the house look fresh. Camo is a great looking color too but it is hard for me to visualize how it would look on your house.

Perhaps you could start another thread and ask for photoshop help.

Is anyone else really bothered by the name "mole's breath"? It does not evoke any attractive visuals for me.

LOL! It is a bizarre name for a paint color, but I keep picturing a sweet little character along the lines of Beatrix Potter's creatures - or perhaps a little guy from Wind In The Willows, and it becomes much sweeter then somehow.

Lichen or a lighter gray, but not the brown with all the bark in the front yard it will just be too dull looking.

I have Camouflage in my bedroom. It's very chameleon-like for interiors and I've always liked it there. I once had it in my kitchen and in bright sunlight it would fade to almost nothingness. It's something to consider for exteriors.

I think of Mole's Breath as TR does. Most paint names are very stupid but it's surprisingly tempting to fall for a name that strikes a chord. I try to ignore them.

Ok, the Mouse's Back brownish tan color is officially out.

I still like both the Lichen and the Mole's Breath. The back of the house has a southern and western exposure, so I might try them there and see how they look in bright sunlight. That's one reason I don't want to go lighter.

And I like the idea of trying them out in Photoshop without the red mulch. We also just got some olive trees which we will plant as a hedge/screen in the front, along with a short fence.

Another Lichen vote. It isn't to light for the brick & roof. It is warm and goes in the setting.

I think the Camoflage torrykm posted is beautiful and classy looking! Also love her garage doors or other carriage style doors in case you decide to change yours in the future.

Yes, I would love to change out the garage door to a more carriage style. Would I paint them white, the color of the house or do wood?

I like the lichen. Mouse's Back looks a little like baby poop color to me. :) As for the names (eg, "Mole's Breath,") that actually makes them appeal to me more. They're funny and whimsical.

I am not a big red-brick fan, but I would think whitewashing those bricks would be a mistake --- at my house, at least, they would quickly look dirty.

I had planned to paint our garage doors to match the siding. When they were installed though, I decided to keep them white.

Please do look seriously at BM Camouflage. We had it for 20 years in our previous home on the exterior with Simply White trim and black/green shutters. Everyone loved it.

Peaches, I like the Camouflage, but I'm worried that it will be too light. The back and side of the house gets a lot of sun. We have a courtyard in the back that is surrounded on three sides by the house, so I think it will be too glarry with a lighter color. Here's a photo from the real estate listing that I think tones down the turquoise wall color. It's brighter in person:

I'm also hoping to either stain the concrete or lay slate pavers over it.

I would look for another grey without the brown undertone of the Mole's breath - maybe a tad more toward the blue end of the spectrum (but not as blue as the house is now!). And I think limewashing the brick would look nice and open up more color options. Red mulch is awful it looks so unnatural, I like the natural un-dyed bark chips or stone.

One more vote for Lichen. I think the Mole's breath will be too dark and read as gloomy.

I think the Lichen is beautiful. The other two are so drab and dingy looking. The Chamouflage is a lovely color for an exterior but imo the lichen is perfect.

Have you made a decision yet? This pic shows a slightly darker green (your were concerned about glare in the courtyard area). It looks pretty with the brick and stained door.

For sure, it's not going to look like the same house no matter which of those colors you choose. Could someone do a mock up using your photo? I can't wait to see it. Can I say it, I do not like the current color at all...so bright! Probably once you paint the house, the mulch will not even be noticeable. That color mulch is all rage where I live. I always buy the natural color one.

I like the lichen!

For a similar color to the moles breath from BM, maybe Kendall Charcoal? Although a darker color like that may make the back patio less inviting?

We painted our house Kendall Charcoal and it is a nice neutral gray. I'd post a pic but it still needs a finishing coat :( ... This is someone else's lovely home:

Franklin St, Uxbridge, On · More Info

Lichen. The gray would be overwhelming in your courtyard I think.

I like the Kendall Charcoal, but I'm definitely going to have to think about what will work best in the courtyard. On the front of the house I think green or gray works well, but maybe the gray is too dark for the courtyard. Green might be more soothing and restful.

I'm also going to try to mock something up in Photoshop.

For the front of the house, here is my mock up of the two colors. It's not exact, but hopefully you can look past that and let me know what you think of the overall effect. I tried to take out the red mulch and replace with some landscaping and a path. And I added a new garage door.

I am drawn more to the green than the gray from the front, I think. But to be honest, whichever color you choose would look great. There isn't a clear winner to me! Are you concerned at all about reselling or will you be there for a while?

Your mockups show you can't go wrong with either color. I also like the Mouse's Back color. Lovely home.

We're not sure if this will be the forever house or if we'll end up selling it. My thought was to fix it up to enjoy it now without overspending, so that if we need to sell it in a few years, it won't be too difficult.

After looking at both, I'm still torn. If I had to characterize them, I'd say that the green seems a little more approachable and comfortable and the gray seems a little more sophisticated.

Those are great! I think I like the green better because it gives the house a more interesting look. But either is great really!

I commend you for overlooking the turquoise paint and the red mulch to buy this house. It is really a nice house and will look great no matter which color you paint it. I'm very influenced by the names of paints. I could never buy paint called mouses back or moles breath. For that reason I choose lichen, but gray by any other name would look great.

Wow - great job on the mock-ups. I'm still leaning toward the green.

Another vote for the green, though I think both mock ups look great.

"I commend you for overlooking the turquoise paint and the red mulch to buy this house." - peaceofmind

"Your neighbors are going to love you." - daisychain01

"Is anyone else really bothered by the name "mole's breath"?" - d_GW

LOL, and the photo I posted was from the real estate listing and it very much downplayed the paint and mulch color. It's very bright turquoise and the mulch is not redwood colored, it's very red.

And you haven't seen the inside yet... :-)

Thank you all for the comments, the votes, and the support. We've just gotten started on this renovation and it's all a bit daunting. It helps to have a great forum to bounce ideas across and to get honest feedback.

Either is nice. Personally, I prefer the gray because it's a cooler, classier color and provides more contrast to green plants. The green seems a bit more rustic to me.

The mockups look 100x better, the path and more natural landscaping helps a lot too. Both colors look great in the mockups!

nice mock ups and we mostly seem to be of the same mind as you - either would look great - loads of help, aren't we?

I love your mock-ups! Can you do a mock up of your courtyard area? That, to me, will be almost as important, because you will be right up close and enclosed on 3 sides by whatever color you choose. I'd be worried the gray, or anything too brown, would feel oppressive when viewed from the patio.

Yes, I should try to do a mock up of that. I'll need to take a better photo.

I appreciate those mock ups above. I was going to recommend the mole's breath, as it seems everyone goes grey and it seems safe, but the green (lichen) really does look better.

That was a really teal house....and I like teal!

I hope red mulch isn't an issue universally, that is what we use. Our house is rather drab with cream siding and grey shutters. I think we need color.

Camouflage gets my vote! I love Farrow & Ball's funky names. I assume if you don't like Mole Back you would not warm up to using a color called Dead Salmon either! Yes, it IS a real color and a great one!

Lichen goes very with with the Swiss Coffee trim and your shingles, IMHO. Nothing else matters. Study your trim color and shingle color for guidance since those are not changing. I would not put carriage garage doors on your house, or any other garage doors that take away attention from the overall design.

Have you considered going with more of a dark charcoal color for contrast? Something like this?