Hi everyone - I'm a long-time poster on the garden forums but since we moved into our new (to us) house, I've gotten tons of helpful info here.

We're finally ready to redo our exterior. Our plan is to stain and I'm thinking about a neutral light-grey with greenish undertones. A few questions:

- do you think this is an ok color for this house? There's a lot of surface.

- would the trim look ok with a light cream/beige instead of a white? I don't like the high contrast look of white trim.

- we're thinking of removing the shutters for 2 reasons: 1, some are the wrong size, some need repair - all of this takes a lot of $$ and 2) we'd like to simplify and modernize the exterior look as much as possible. It looks a little 'fussy' to us now.

- Finally, we're thinking about taking off the railing on the balustrade above the front door. It is rotted and will cost $$ to repair and we're trying to simplify - this has always looked too decorative and unnecessary to me and it doesn't serve a function.

All opinions appreciated - I've thought about this so much my head is spinning so I'd appreciate some fresh perspective.

thanks!