Schemy McSchemerson

Lately I've been thinking about schemes.  Color schemes, that is.  Here's the part where you give me a pity laugh.  Ha ha.

But really, I've been trying to figure out what to do color-wise with the front of our house.  To refresh your memory, this is what we've got going on right now:

 Brown roof, brown shutters, beige trim, RED door.  How's that for a pop of color?  Actually, I'm not a fan.  Which is saying a lot, since I'm the one that picked the color and painted it on. 

When choosing the colors here, I've got a few things to consider.  First, the siding color has to stay this color (except for being cleaner) because it's vinyl and wouldn't paint well.  Second, Pat (wisely) wants the roof to stay a light color when we replace it to keep cooling costs down.  So we'll probably wind up with another tan shade, even though I LOVE the way a nice dark gray roof looks. Third, I really want a pop of color on the front door, which was what I was originally going for with the red.

My first thought was basic black for the shutters/trim and a sunny yellow on the door.  So I plugged those colors into Valspar's virtual painting tool and this is what I got.  

 In my mind those colors would be bright, contemporary, and fun, but after seeing it here, I doubt any of those adjectives come close to fitting.  I thought maybe the door color was the problem, so I changed it to the ever popular turquoise:

 and saw an ugly house with a pretty door.  Definitely not what I'm going for.  I decided to switch gears altogether and use my typical go-to color.  You know, seafoam-grayish color that I've used in the living room, kitchen, bathroom, and the blog background, among other things.  I added that to the shutters along with a new color for the door:

 and was rewarded with the above washed out mess of a house.  I tried one more minor switch:

and hated it a little less.  But I'm still not really liking anything I've come up with.  So we're basically right back where we started.  


I need some help!!  Do you have any color ideas for me?  Please do share!


-Kelli