I remember something designer Sarah Richardson once said which when paraphrased recommended that if you can't have something you really want, then throw out all the conceptions you had for the design and use the element you can have as the basis for a new design.

Take the color as a given. Now let's see what we can do with it that you might like?

can you post a photo

Also, if you have room, consider planting lots of white flowers. They really show up against a color like this.

I usually love red doors - but I'm not seeing it with the gray green.

But PICTURES!

You could definitely use some curb appeal, but the paint is not a stumbling block toward achieving it, imo. Good news is you have loads of potential! I think it will be fun bringing some cheer & charm to your little cottage!

How about a yellow door? Or, if you like blue, a light blue that pops? I don't like the idea of red and green together (unless it is Christmas.) The door would be easy to repaint if your first choice isn't what you love.

What a nice landlord to let you pick the color and do so much to the house.

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n280/SFOCindy/IMG_1297.jpg
this is the front door (glass panes at top taped) ready to be painted

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n280/SFOCindy/IMG_1313.jpg
the pavers waiting to be put in ground,just laid them to see a curved path

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n280/SFOCindy/IMG_1316.jpg
view from front corner to street, baby flowering plum by street, silver sheen (airy) pittosporum hedge in early stage

now this cottage is quite small -obviously. the top attic vent between the corbels needs to be painted white, and the ugly porch is going to be covered with the pavers as well-tan,charcoal,red hues in pavers.

But, when you go to your pictures in Photobucket and hover over one with your mouse, a box should open up below the picture with 4 options -

Email & IM
Direct Link
HTML code
IMG code

If you go to the soft yellow box to the right of HTML code, and left click on it, you should see 'copied'.

Then you come here and paste that code. You'll see approx. 5 rows of code here. It will look like code until you click the Preview button before posting. When you click Preview Message, and look at your post, you should see your photos. I just put one here from my Photobucket album. You can put many pictures in a post - I just skip a line and leave a blank row between each set of 'picture code'.

I will defer front door color advice to others--I think red might be wrong, but I don't know what would be best.

I hope you can get over the color not being what you pictured. It's really a good choice for the house.

BTW I absolutely love the colour of your house. I think it gives your tiny cottage a chic presence that blue could never achieve.

but wait, i don't have the bottom 2 links, just email/IM and direct link. ???
well I'll try posting the links, thanks to whoever it is for posting them. :)

here's the red sample on door up close
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n280/SFOCindy/IMG_1317.jpg

here's the red,free, and white trim from a step back
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n280/SFOCindy/IMG_1318.jpg

here's the house with more sun (the green changes)
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n280/SFOCindy/IMG_1319.jpg

and here's the hedge bushes that are growing-which will form one nice 4' tall hedge around the front with the height still able to see color on house and in plans
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n280/SFOCindy/IMG_1322.jpg

(the red is from HD, "dozen roses" is it's name. It really is a nice red, but then I need to put lots of color in the yard along the front of the house, plus the red door is the same color as Don Juan climbing roses, and they bloom all summer, not just once.

here's the red,free, and white trim from a step back

here's the house with more sun (the green changes)

and here's the hedge bushes that are growing-which will form one nice 4' tall hedge around the front with the height still able to see color on house and in plans

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n280/SFOCindy/IMG_0928.jpg

Hope you post updated pics with the new door color too! :)

I'm not a big fan of a red door on a green house, but maybe that's just me. I like the white, though a new door with some detailing will be really nice.

no wonder my landlord owner loves me! I hope I picked the right colors to make him pleased! and I really think once the paver curved sidewalk goes in and the porch redone covered with pavers, I will plant and splash color, all sorts of color--do you all agree?? I want the folks walking down the street (and they do-it;s a street from busy one to elementary school ) so I do want privacy to open my front windows! (hence, the hedge) I sold him on that idea fast.

Do you all agree on the attic vent being painted white? and the porch railing going in? I want a nice cozy home :)

The house is a charmer! I could see a cute little white bench tucked over on the right at an angle, some pretty pots of flowers on either end.

forboystoo - I love that stained door with the deck attached to it! but I know I don;t have that option.

and whoAAAA that orange door is SCAREY! LOL I'm trying to picture the new door which has panels and glass panes at the top (not flat like in the pic,the old door) and a burgundy rose red color.......I know with the white side rails on the porch and the green vines growing up the posts, the red door won't be TOO much of a scary POP, no????? I just think all white will be TOO much white.

Golden yellow is beautiful, but to be honest, I used to have an apt with all french country--pine furniture, yellow blue red everything, I loved it, but after 20 yrs old that, I've now gone to denim, white/whitish furniture, blues, greens,pinks, the floral theme......... no bright colors. but outside I can go for it if i need it.

or.........I can keep the subdued romantic feel and maybe a different green or white door and .........oh lord here I go again. no no no, I always love a house to walk by with all sorts of colors. So cottage garden! :)

To make the picture visible in your message, insert the code for the email link inside the quote marks in the statement below:
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once again, you guys have all been great. I'll keep updating photos, it's still a fairly blank slate with just hedge bushes and grass,.... but when it comes to gardens I love color!

You have one fabulous landlord!

I am in Maine in gardening zone 5. I only plant perennials.
Some of what you see there are day lilies, liatris, bee balm, hosta, astilbe, Russian sage, coreopsis and echinacea.

Like everyone else - I think your house color is GREAT! We had a camp when I was young that was a green color similar to that and I always loved the deep orange door color, similar to what I have linked below.

I think adding a railing on each side would look really nice, but I would avoid painting the attic vent white. It isn't particularly decorative or something I would want to highlight. Plus if you paint it white the brackets won't be as visible as they are now. I'd rather have the brackets be the decorative detail.

What do you all think? paint the attic vents white (like most houses do) OR leave them green????????? I'll listen to everybody! thanks!

lyban-- I love that red too! lord this is too much a decision for me.....gulp,,,
BM paint is only at OSH now. I will beg Fred (landlord ) to paint the old door first, so we shall see. I work today and tomorrow, so hopefully he doesn't paint it yet. (he comes here between his real job-he's a general contractor with all the licenses, skills,etc) if I had the $ to ever buy a house (in my dreams) I'd have him build me one from scratch!

Definitely leave the vent green! If you paint it white, it will call attention to itself for no good reason and spoil the lovely top angle of your front gable. Leave it green!

I vote for a classy burgundy door. The glossiest paint you can find.

And I want to come visit! It's a fairy tale cottage now!

Terricks: Wow!! Amazing virtuals! Well done! :) LOVE the idea of the window boxes! :)

I agree with you all-- the attic vent STAYS green.

The window boxes are literally just like the ones you did! huge and white!

Fred (landlord) had a prof painter with him when they checked out the colors (and the old lead base paint that came off) they discussed the color under the eaves. there is a protocol (I just listened and went "uh huh, uhu huh" anyway, when they are filled in by facia and gutters, the underneath stays the color of the house.I just said whatever, it looks nice this way. -He's the boss, on that bit, he won the argument -i wanted them white too. but he drove me around the neighborhood looking at similar home styles etc, and he was right.

I noticed a lot of you also mentioned stain which he won't do, but when i was in osh, i saw a craftsman house with colors on it sort of my idea, but the front door was "painted" a deep brown

and of course, the option of the door staying white. Boring no? I love that "white,moon garden" link way at the beginning of the thread, but I really want the house to pop with all sorts of color! maybe on sunset magazine lol!!

I'll put on a 2nd coat of the reds, then on sunday i'll post a pic-which someone :) will make the picture come to life and then all your input will be well appreciated!!

In Photobucker, at the top right of your screen, hover over your user name and select Account Settings, then Album Settings and make sure that HTML Code is checked and then click Save. Go to the image you want to post, click the HTML Link at the upper right. It should copy automatically. Paste the code in your post and you should be good to go.

Jodi-

I am one who would like to see the vent painted white because it adds one more feature to add detail and less boxy look. But either way the house looks GREAT!

Everyone gets startled when they try a new color or the color is not what they imagined, such an intrusion on our lives to have that amount of different color around us. BUT change is good when it looks this good!

You probably see a lot of white vents because they only come in a couple of colors.

I would do the eaves on the porch cover in white. The door color is always a tough call but I think the right red will be nice. If you went with white, you could always use a pretty wreath in any color you like to give you to pop of a contrasting color. One year you might do a yellow wreath with all yellow flowers, another year red, violet, etc. I think it would be fun to change my accent color so easily.

the colors with some foliage around it (remember the porch and step are going to be the stone pavers!!!

and here's a close up with the rose climber next to the reds

and the tall ladder disappears this week....so it's now or never.

Love the colors. My pick for the door would be the darker brownish red. But either will look good.

Since monitor colors can be so off, I would choose whichever red mimics the roses the best. They aren't going to be right up against the door, so they will carry your eye to and from the door and I think that will work best if the shades are close to the same.

I do love the green and think you are so lucky to have that landlord! You should give him a big "thank you" smooch on the cheek from everyone here on GW who thinks he is a sweetie!

Of the two colors you have, I would go with the darker door on the right. You don't want to match the flowers exactly - various reds will give more depth and interest to the landscape and visual appeal.

I would also paint the ceiling of the porch white. It will make that area feel less shadowed, especially at night.

Or blue.

Or blue.

Door: Darker color on right

Either red.

I'm late to this party, but what about an eggplant for the door? The red on the left seems too bright and the one on the right goes into the orangey-brown reds that tend to be my least favorite -- so I was thinking about the burgundy suggestion. I would like that better, but that would be a deep blue red, so why not take it further -- or the lavender door idea and go deeper?

I love the brighter (left one) I know it looks pinky now, but the right one looks browny during the day. oh god..i don't know WHAT to do

DOOR: Red on left

(the red on the right is just too brown!)
(every vent I have ever seen has been painted the trim color)

Have you grown to love the house color? I do.

vent is staying green.

door is getting brighter (on the the left) red - he doesn't like the brownish one.
his wife likes the door to "pop" cuz she knows I'm going with lots of colors for flowers. :)

the door itself is getting a major redo (LOL) since it's a slab going into an old house which has shorter doors and the screws into the wall for the hinges were a mile long due to termite damage over the years. plus other prep work. wow, is all I can think. (oh the paint that came off the old trim" inside" the house is everything from aqua, pink, green, and red. (house built in 1936)

can't wait to see the final work of art. I'll post for sure! (flowers not in tho till I get paid !!)

to cindy: I love the house color, too, and I hope it's growing on you. As I've been driving around the last few days I've seen houses your color and they always catch my eye in a good way.

Hope you've come around to it. : )

before: (ickyyyyyy)

AFTER: :)))))

I went with not painting the attic vent (thank you to THAT advice!!!!)
the door is HD Dozen roses-sorry the other was just too pink
the window boxes white
I added (landlord added) porch railing
the paver path was set in stone so to speak (tok forever with all the steps the I drove him nuts picking exactly which stone,color, etc to go next -my "own" pattern.wet saw on most of them to make a perfect curve (he's anal too!) yes, landlord and I worked on the path. (He did the porch AFTER I put the stones in right place. :)
new mailbox, new porch lamp, new house #s. I realize they aren't quite visible.I should take one of those. and YES I know I have too many flowers, but it is for show and they all won't survive--I'll see which ones I like. I have yet to train/wrap the red roses up the posts. (Don Juan climber) my lazy husband has yet to mow the grass, and the pittosporum bushes are slowly on their way to become a hedge..........
VOILA!!!!! (The neighborhood comes by to take pics!!!!! )

and look the driveway even got fixed!!!

I want to put an arbor there maybe next year.

Jennifer

Cheers,
Dee

Enjoy the roses and keep that mildew-causing Bay Area fog away from them -- ;-)

I feel like this is OUR house. It's beautiful, charming, sweet, and... again, beautiful. Well done!

Your cottage is adorable and says so much about what can be done to upgrade/create a beautiful setting. Great choices. I love the railings and window boxes, finished steps and path. Well, everything! Enjoy your home and happy gardening.