kidshear,

Ours is not dark, but a mid-tone. You may want to try sites like Certainteed where they have ColorView where you can play with different color siding, trim, roof, etc. Some paint websites also have similar functions such as Sherwin Williams.

Jill

Here is a link that might be useful: Certainteed ColorView

kidshear,

Here are a couple pictures of our house. We used Cabot's Mountain Brush (sagey gray) main and Navajo White (creamy tan) for trim.

Jill

Ours is stucco, but same idea. The new cypress beams on porch will weather until they look "old," then we'll seal before they turn that silvery-grey, which isn't our cup of tea. All posts downstairs are being bricked. Jill's eaves are perfect for our house. We did white, thinking that the house was going to be too dark. Also, DH told me to order white, and then when it was up it was too late; we're too ready to move in. But, ohhhhhhhhhhhh, I looooooooove Jill's!!

Otherwise, we're so so happy with ours. And I understand your problem. We drove and drove and googled and searched, too.

Good luck.
~LaDonna

Here is a link that might be useful:

Jill, LOVE your house! So pretty.

I'm not sure I'm "qualified" to post, since our siding is a bit different, but it is dark. All the trim will be SW Beach House which not painted yet but pretty close to the color the composite trim boards are now and even a bit closer to the color of the Aluminum clad windows.

Ladonna and Jaymielo,

Thank you for the nice comments. Both your houses are beautiful. LaDonna, your doors are gorgeous and what great porches. Jaymie, love the gables and the beam accent trim. The stone and paint color on your siding really complement each other.

We went back and forth on colors, we did the soffits and trim before we settled on house color so decided to match up to the roof and hoped for the best. We weren't sure about having roof trim different than the main house trim, but are happy with the results. We may leave the cedar shingles natural with a clear coat or do a semi-transparent mahogany stain. Heck, I'm just glad to get the last of the Tyvek covered over!

Jill

Jill,

We debated leaving our cedar natural but wanted to avoid the orangish tone and use a red trim. We applied a semi transparent stain in a honey colour and it neutralized the redish tones in our Eastern White Cedar.

ajpl,

Thanks for the tip! Orange or amber we want to avoid which is why I was thinking mahogany (brown/red). Do you recall what stain brand and color you used? We tested Cabot Natural Cedar and it was very yellow. We put a clear waterproofing on the porch posts.

Jill

The guy we bought our timber frame package from suggested Cabot for the cedar exterior. We actually ended up using a Flood product. The packaging looks different but this stuff has the same name. We used Rustic Honey but the colour card looks totally different.

http://www.flood.com/flood/Products/Exterior/FinishersForExteriorWood/FloodPro+STF+Product+Page.htm

Here's the house finished:

Apjl,

I appreciate it, your cedar looks great and the red trim is WOW.

Rhome, LOVE your porch post collars (and the window grids, of course).

kidshear, sorry for going off-course.

Jill

Thanks everyone, each post really was helpful. It helps to see the darker color sidings with trim that really contrasts. There are lots of good ideas for me here, too, about where to trim.

Jill - no need to apologize (I didn't even think it was much off-course), we're all just here to share ideas and learn.