Decisions, Decisions!

What color to paint the house? I've been collecting paint chips from Lowe's and Home Depot for weeks, trying to find something that complements the odd redish-brown color of my new roof. Mind you, when I looked at the small roofing sample, the color looked like it would go well with my taupe house. I couldn't have been more wrong. For one thing, a small sample gives you no idea what an entire roof of the same color will actually look like. What I thought was a subtle neutralish brown with a faint red cast, is now a glaringly redish-brown roof that clashes horridly with taupe. It doesn't help that brown is not my favorite color.

So I've been agonizing over house colors. I so don't want a brown house! Thankfully, there is enough red in the roof that I can lean toward brick colors. I also tried several shades of dark hunter green. I've finally narrowed the choices down to the following:

Green: Charcoal Smoke; Gunmetal Gray, Northwest Green

Brown: Mayan Red, Rich Chocolate; Leatherbound; Wine Barrel

Of the above colors, there is only one truly perfect match: Rich Chocolate, which is a rich dark brown with a red cast to it. I'd almost call it a burgundy. The problem is, I need a second color to go with it, because of the way the house is constructed. That's an old photo above, before I had the new roof installed. As you can see, the upper half of the house has vertical boards. The lower half has horizontal boards. I think it would look weird to paint both the upper and lower parts the same color. I've tried a dark hunter green for the bottom, with Rich Chocolate for the upper part, but it looks weird. Then I tried a lighter shade of Rich Chocolate for the bottom, but it looked orange. Next, I tried a hunter green--upper half, and Rich Chocolate--bottom half. Ugh. Then Charcoal Smoke with Gunmetal Gray. Blah.

And then, of course, I have to choose a color for the trim around the windows. I have no idea what colors I'll go with, but in the meantime, the sample colors I've smeared across the front of the house give it a dilapidated patchwork appearance. And as much as I dislike brown, I'm afraid the overwhelming choice so far is Rich Chocolate. Now, to decide on the complementary colors . . .

If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears!