We have a two bedroom 'puddler's cottage' near the lake in Bayview, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The interior has been gut renovated with cathedral ceilings, skylights, everything new, we love this house.

However, we're having a real problem choosing a color for the exterior. It seems that the majority of homes in the area are various shades of beige, or white. We want something that will look sharp and stand out.

We've narrowed it down to a shade of green - but we're having trouble finding the exact right shade, it seems to be very easy to make a mistake with green.

Another option would be a dark blue-gray.

A third option is a shade of brown-gray or deep taupe.

The main problem we're having at this point is that when we find and inspiration photo we like, when we paint the sample onto the wall, it comes out looking NOTHING like the photo - there is always a huge variation in depth, shade, undertone, etc.

Its hard to tell what the entire house will look like from a paint sample. And the stakes feel so high because this is not something we want to do again for a very long time.......

Any advice from a color-phile, or someone who's been through this recently? Do we just go for it even if we don't trust the color?

What is the right color scheme for a small 1860 cottage like this?

The walls are currently primed Hardy-plank, never been painted.

Thanks for any help and advice you can give.