Are you keeping the brick color the cream you have now? I'd probably either go a medium taupe similar to your garage door for an elegant look, or really dark like an inky blue if you want to be more modern. Juniper Home just did a house with a cream/ink combo that's stunning.

Thanks! I'll have to look that up for sure. And while I like the brick (it will actually be white once it's washed, LOL), I'm not married to it!

I just wanted to say how much I loved your laziness statement. Carry on.

@cottage magpie - HOLY CRAP. I found that Evergreen House Reveal post you mentioned....and it's....literally....perfect. I can't believe it. Those colors are so perfect. Can I say perfect again? Oh my gosh. Thank you!!

@anna - laziness is actually my motivator for many things. Red stain included. ;)

Even better!! White and black/inky blue is really sharp. Here's a blog post from Juniper Home that shows what I am talking about: https://juniperhome.com/2019/05/evergreen-project-side-porch-reveal.html/

Love that garage door detail!

@cottage magpie- yes! That’s the same house I found when I mentioned the Evergreen House. It looks incredible!

@mnmamax3 - me

too! Everyone I know hates it and says I need to get rid of it....but I kinda like it

I kind of like the color the cedar is now. There is certainly enough contrast and the tone reads as a nice grey-brown. Is that truly the color? Are you thinking of updating the doors or light fixture?

@ mnmamax3 - it's more of a purpley/grey/brown actually. And yes, I'd love to get rid of that light but haven't really found anything easy to replace it yet.

Beverly - that's a GREAT IDEA!!! Thank you!!

@jenm Yes!! Sorry, I missed your earlier comment that you had found the post already. When I saw your house I was like, I know EXACTLY what picture to send you!! :-) I hope you'll show us when you have it done, it's going to be amazing. When you do, personally I'd take the garage door up to match the white brick OR dark to match the wood (Then you could keep the groovy detail). Also I love Beverly's idea for the flagstone steps -- I did exactly the same thing to my first home. (This is from back in 2002 when earth tones were still the the trend).

Some inspiration

"Any other suggestions for the exterior are welcome also"

If budget allowed and this were mine, I'd want to create a portico over the porch for curb appeal as well as practical (weather)., and wider trim around all windows

https://binladenseahunt.com/home-design-makeover-level-46/home-design-makeover-level-46-bi-level-house-exterior-renovations-google-search/

@celerygirl - thank you so much! I wish I had such proficiency at photo editing software - this whole thing would be so much easier on me.

@cottage magpie - seriously, I couldn't believe it when I found the house you reference and it hit me like a ton of bricks! No wonder you knew immediately because it fits just right. The color is actually green, but I do prefer a dark inky blue. It looks exactly like the color I'd want on my computer monitor, but I'll see how it looks in real life and find the right "inky dark blue" to match what it looks like on my screen, for sure.

I'd probably keep the garage white to match the brick - how bad would it look if I painted the 70's star detail the same color as the siding, that dark blue?

@DK Haas - what a great idea! I've always been bothered that there's no real "shelter" for the front door, and that portico idea is perfect, and ties in beautifully with the flagstone steps idea from above.

I'm sure someone will color up the star with your inky blue, but I think the reason it works now is because it's subtle. Don't get rid of it! I like the one celerygirl did with the red doors! Our accent trim was painted with Valspar Model T. Make sure on some of those inky dark colors to get Matte or Satin finish as semi-gloss trend our deep dark green into hunter green and had to be redone.

I have seen the picture before with the inky blue too. Its beautiful, but, that house is not in as much woods as your house. I think what you have actually fits your woodsy location better, than the inky blue would. I might try a brown that doesnt have a purple cast to it though. Lazy or not, I like the color of your deck. In fact, it is the color I like the very best for a deck. You could use a few plants with flowers on them, into your landscaing, since you are very much lacking color there. I also like the star thing on your garage door. I would want to keepp that.

@jenm I think white garage door with inky blue star detail would be perfect. Also, I'd go dark on the front door as well. As for the deck -- if you keep the taupe garage door then you could go taupe on the deck/porch, that would look great. If you go white on the garage door then I'd go dark on the deck/porch.

Finalizing paint estimates, so I came back here to refresh my memory on the suggestions. And now I see the suggestion about wider window trim, and I'm kinda lost. Am I supposed to paint the window trim a different color than the siding itself? I see tons of white trim in advice threads, but I'm not sure that would work here. Maybe it would, IDK.

Settled on the inky blue (siding) and cool cream (brick & garage) combo that was first suggested, and the deck will remain redwood, and the star will be that inky blue. I'm stuck on whether I need to add white trim to the windows(?) and change the door color.

Why is this hard? It shouldn't be hard, right?

You can get a solid stain mixed to any color. I would do the steps to coordinate and give a cohesive look. Love the star too. Would budget allow for new front doors? Something more MCM would look fab! Also love the idea of stone steps down the road.

I would go with dark trim.

...

I would trim it exactly as your current home is painted - dark trim on the dark sided areas and cream trim on the cream areas. Is the garage going to be same color as the brick? I like the slightly darker cream.

So, the same color on the trim that's on the surrounding area? And I thought there was this rule of 3; I can only have 3 exterior colors (thanks, Google). With the deck, the cedar siding, and the brick, that's the 3 so I assumed that's all I could have. Not to mention everyone says I'm supposed to use the same color on the garage as the surrounding areas...so I never even considered doing the garage another shade.

I think they forgot to install the Color and Design chip when I was born, and instead I got a double install of the Fretting Over Nothing software.