Choosing exterior colors

When redoing the exterior of a home, there are lots of great choices in materials, and when painting, you have your choice of any color you wish.  But, oftentimes you are working with existing stone, brick or roof color.  So, where to begin?For this charming home in town, the clients wanted to start over with a new color palette, and really liked the idea of using shingles somewhere.  As the shingles are more of an accent, we put them on the upper dormer, chose a medium blue to paint the brick on the bottom, selected a creamy yellow siding, and kept the trim white so the colors popped.  The shutters on the side of the house were custom-stained to work with the shingle color and front door color, then we added a bit of burgundy and red as an accent to the side metal roof, cushions on the porch and flowers.  Eliminating the shutters on the front helped to simplify the look, and other details like new lighting, add a nice finishing touch.  (See below for details).This next house had a nice, "hunt country" theme to it, but the owners wanted a slightly different, more classic look.  We chose a lighter beige siding and went with black shutters.  Not super-exciting, but that's the point.  A home's exterior should relate to it's surroundings, and not necessarily jump out at you.  If you do use color, consider using bolder colors in smaller doses (on the front door, for example).  A little bit goes a long way.  The last consideration is how much color you'll have from flowers and plants.  If you have a beautiful garden, then keep the house relatively simple so that the focus is on the garden.  However, if you would rather have the house itself make a statement, then by all means, jazz it up a little. Color selection and vendor notes for first house:Siding color: Desert Tan, Paint: SW6249 Storm Cloud, Cedar: Cedar Impressions-Blend.Painter: Hi-Tek Painting, West Chester PASiding and trim: Certitude, Malvern PA