What an adorable house! I really like the color it is now.

Sorry, no help.

I've seen some houses around my area that are a grayed lavender or a gray with a purple-ish cast. They are so pretty with the greens of summer or the snowy whites of winter. Charcoal black shutters & I don't know what for the door.

Examples: Doeskin from Sherwin Williams (what I have in mind is lighter, but this is still pretty)

Discreet White from SW

What an adorable house! I really like the color it is now.

Sorry, no help.

Actually -- your darling cottage would be really wonderful in deep barn red with a black roof; black shutters and a bright white door -- plus window boxes under the front windows .... :)

Or how about:

Black roof; dark olive green body; black shutters; white front door and window boxes ....

Black roof; white body; black shutters, eggplant door.

I think it is a really nice neutral color with no weird undertones, which is a major accomplishment! Personally, I think the house looks great as is - but if I had do something I would probably -

Get a a black storm door for a nice crisp look that leans a touch more historical.

Change to a single black light fixture that fits the era of the house - same for the house numbers and mailbox, something chunky, simple and touch more historic

Put in some larger foundation plantings in the back of those beds - so plantings look fuller and the house looks nestled into the landscape.

A big change would be to swap out the concrete stairs and walk for another surface - like flagstone or brick. I think that would have a bigger impact than a new paint color - but it can be expensive to have it done right.

I agree with the window boxes suggestion - that could look fantastic.

Again - the house looks great - maybe some new details will provide some of the new look you and DH are in search of

I don't just like the color it is now, I love the color it is now. Don't mess with perfection!

I love the color of the siding, and think it would really snap nicely if the door and shutters were painted a deep cobalt blue.

Omigosh, why would you change it? It is darling!!

Haha, you all are not very helpful! ;-) Just kidding, of course. I told my husband that the majority of you said to keep it the same color and his response was, "Well, maybe the tan isn't that bad."

Lauralincoln - I 100% agree with all of your suggestions and they are things that we would like to do at some point. And if the painting were just a cosmetic issue, we'd choose to do something else before painting. But, while they previous owners apparently picked a nice color, they didn't know what they were doing when they painted. Even though the paint isn't very old, one side of our house has huge pieces of paint just falling off, exposing wood. They didn't move a single thing when they painted, so there is the old baby blue color behind every downspout, every bush, etc. Also, I just have to mention the landscaping because it's my baby...Everything that you see is a year or less old. Our goal is a filled in, lush landscape, but it'll take a few years of growth.

Thanks for your help everyone! We may just end up color matching what we already have. :)