We are doing the same thing with our Craftsman--we have shingle siding on our gables and planks down below. We are painting the darker color up top on the shingles and the lighter color down below. I hope it looks good because after the paint is up, there's no turning back! We went with pre-primed CertainTeed and are painting the shingles BM Puritan Gray and the planks BM Boothbay Gray. Post pictures when you're finished!
Good luck!!

swhite10~

I can feel your pain. Soooooo many (high ticket item) decisions to make, and that you can't readily, or inexpensively, 'fix' if you decide you've made a mistake. Since you're getting the Hardie primed and painting it yourself though, as long as you catch them soon enough you can change your paint colors without too much trouble. Pre-painted, as in my case, is another story. Once the order is placed, I'm stuck with it.

Along with the exterior reno I'm also doing a new kitchen. Oh, gawd! Just typing it scares me. IMO, there's no harder room in the house to renovate in terms of the number of decisions that must be made...particularly for ppl such as myself, who have a difficult time deciding what flavor chewing gum to buy. I wake up in the middle of the night panic-stricken, in fear I've made mistakes.

Is it just your front-facing gables that you're painting darker, as an 'accent', or the entire 2nd floor (if you have a second floor, that is)?

I cross-posted this question to other Forums, and was asked why I'm doing two colors, and why two shades of the same color. I'm glad to learn it's not only me, and that you've chosen two shades of grey for your home.

Good luck with your project, too. Would love to see pics when it's finished. I'd post some also, IF I could figure out how to do so. (What a dunce, eh?)

swhite10~ just one more question I meant to ask. Why did you choose CertainTeed over Hardie? My reason for asking is that originally I was going to use Nichiha. Much nicer product than Hardie, IMO. More 'realistic', sharper edges. Only problem is the one color I was interested in, although in their 2010 brochure, will not be in production for another year. Figures. Each of the other colors in the brochure are in production and available, EXCEPT for the one I like.

I have a CertainTeed brochure, but have not seen an actual sample. Am also a bit reluctant because I don't know anyone who has used it. Just wondering the basis upon which you made your decision to go with CertainTeed.

Building and reno is just plain stressful! I have never had to make so many silly little decisions. Often, I just look at my builder and say "can you just make this decision because I don't know enough about it to make a good one!" Thankfully he's been awesome!!
We originally were going with pre-painted Hardiplank. My cousin is involved in the homebuilding industry in Richmond and I asked his opinion on the products, being that he's worked with tons of builders. He said Hardiplank and CertainTeed were of similar quality and he didn't see any difference besides price. That's when he also recommended primed instead of pre-painted. CertainTeed has been manufacturing building materials for over 100 years so I felt like we could trust the name and the company. Plus, I had read some horror stories on here about people having issues with Hardie products and they weren't covered under warranty because, it seemed in every case, "it wasn't installed correctly," which voids the warranty. I have to say, I'm thrilled with the way the CertainTeed looks! And you're right, if the paint doesn't look great, I can stop them and pick something else. I had already tried 6 other color combinations and they were too green so I tried to find a color similar to the primed color (which looks awesome against our tree lined lot) and then I found the darker color for up top. I originally wanted a red gable, but it's a western facing house and I knew it would fade quickly so I couldn't get up the nerve to go with red.
Here's a link to our house. 2nd floor--everything above the wide white board, will be painted the darker color. Sorry the pictures are out of order! It's going to pop with the stonework! I can't wait to see it!!
Also, if we had picked pre-painted Hardiplank, I was going to go with Timberbark and one of the lighter beiges. I steered away from browns because the other 3 houses in our "neighborhood" are all brown. I wanted something different.
Posting pictures is easy, once you figure out how. Do a search for 'how to post pictures.'
Good luck!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Lisa's house

Your home is going to be beautiful! Just my style! Looks like you have my front door. Is it Simpson? Or Rogue Valley makes one similar. Looks like the piers under your tapered coluums are about 16" sq. or so, too? (Difficult, for me anyway, to judge scale in pictures.) Mind sharing which stone veneer you used? Seems to be an issue between me and the GC. He's a proponent of "more contrast"...in everything, it seems. (Siding colors, stone work, etc.) On the other hand, I like less contrast, more subtle and subdued. (Easier on the eye. I don't want any one thing to overpower the next, but rather quietly compliment instead.)

I know what you mean about other homes in the neighborhood. When we sided our house about 16 years ago, "clay" was the new "in" color. Almost all the houses on the street were white, including ours, and I really liked the "clay". It appealed to my "subtle" sensibilities. Well, in the ensuing years almost every single one of my neighbors have used "clay" on their homes! Now, instead of the cookie cutter white all the houses used to be, they're all cookie cutter "clay"! The 3 or 4 that aren't "clay" are all shades of gray. So, both of those colors are out of the running for me. That's why I'm leaning toward Mountain Sage/Heathered Moss. There are no green homes on the street. If I chicken out and decide against green, then it's Timberbark/Monterey Taupe. Those are the samples cluttering my kitchen island (along with about 10 roofing sample books) as I type. Guess we have similar taste?!

In the alternative, we could just keep it Tyvek-covered. Now, THAT would be different!

I admire your strength! I'm having enough trouble with just a reno. Have said about 1,000 times since this project began that a new build would kill me for sure!

Okay, today's plan now includes going back to the building supply place (again. I think this is the 3rd time this week.) for CertainTeed samples. Might as well check and see what they have to offer before the final decision is made. My thoughts about CertainTeed were the same. They've been in business forever. The vinyl they just ripped off my house is CertainTeed, and it has held up considerably well for all these years compared to other manufacturers' products on other homes in the neighborhood. I know someone who used their vinyl fencing and it, too, looks very nice compared to others. Must satisfy my curiosity.

Thank you! I think our front door is a ThermaTru. It needs to be stained, but I haven't decided which color. That's another decision that needs to be made soon. That and the hardwood stain color.
The piers are rockfaced bluestone. I believe they are 20-22" square. Leaning towards 20".
We used ElDorado Mountain Ledge in Sierra. I liked that it had grays, greens, blues and slight reds. That way we could pick just about any color for the siding and not go wrong with too much of a contrast. I definitely wanted it to match instead of clash!
I definitely think you should pick a color--the Tyvek will get old after awhile! :0) The greens you picked are very pretty and I leaned towards those but was scared I would tired of them too quickly. I was suprised when I went in the house the other day, how much blue I picked for interior colors. Most of them are blue-grays, but there's still a lot of blue. However, I don't think I'll ever tire of blue--it's such a lovely color.
Good luck running back and forth! I feel your pain!