One of my favorite colors is the blue/green that is Martha Stewart's signature color. It would certainly work here on the door, and maybe with a group of painted flower pots in the front bed to tie it together (or a painted bench if you have the room). I just bought a similar color umbrella at Pier 1, which would work nicely on the rear deck.

I think a rich chocolate brown would look great.

I think turquoise blue would look absolutely fab in the outdoors! With touches of yellow reminiscent of backyard pool areas.

Agreed on the things I'm hearing about grays, blue, and green.

I'd also move that drainspout and/or paint it to blend with the rocks. It was really positioned poorly, it should be away from the door and over near the chimney.

Also, what about adding some floor-level lights in your entranceway, and a light at the top? It would feel less fortressey near the door then.

And your deck is going to be awesome! I love the baskety iron things you've installed on them. Your plants look great, too.

I love this house! We just bought a 1956 brick ranch as well, so I have a soft spot for them. We're doing the turquoise thang.

I would paint the soffits and trim charcoal grey, paint the door light turquoise.

Beautiful. Our last house was very similar, but didn't have the stone - it makes a big difference! I would do a dark taupe so that the stone is highlighted, and then some great color with the door and features outside the door. I have to say that I'm no longer willing to paint houses a real color, because I find I hate it in three years or so. Stay with neutrals and add color in other spots.

The addition can be painted a lighter version of the taupe. Almost every stucco house in my town has an addition that's got wood siding, and that's what people generally do - a darker or lighter version of the main color. Looks great.

Deep taupe for the body, deep plum for accents, and a light moss green for the door. Keep the trim white, or paint it cream/off-white.

light grey on the soffits, eaves and window frames,
turquoise on the front door
turquoise being a very popular mid-century colour, so it would be in keeping with the time period of the house.
very nice house, much happiness there.

Thanks for the comments, everybody! So many great ideas! Gray never even occurred to me. My brain just doesn't do exterior color, I think.

mckate - that downspout is at the top of the list! What were they thinking!? We did install a large pendant light inside the porch area - the ceiling is recessed - but I had not really thought about additional lighting, thanks!

suzee - thanks for the idea for the siding, I was against it originally because I wanted to change the stucco at some point in the future, but who knows when that will be! It's a small area to repaint if we do change the stucco in the future, in any case.

I am definitely leaning toward turquoise :) Garage door, too?

I really like the turquoise suggestion for the door and for garden accents in the front (pots, decorative items, etc) that will really set off the red stone. I think you could keep/paint all of the exterior walls that taupe color, but go with a rich chocolate brown trim (all windows, garage door, back door trim, porch rails) as a nice contrast. Maybe even some small painted turquoise accents on the garage door?

Once you get the paint off the back porch, you should think about a transparent colored stain - something with either a bit of turquoise or redwood would be gorgeous! Behr makes a good waterproofing/stain that comes in a wide variety of colors. Whichever color you choose for the stain, use the other as the accent (pots, decorative items).

You have a lot of gorgeous plants in your front yard, but they all seem to be green. You might want to find some non-green shrubs and trees that would also bring in some additional color. I don't know where you live, but sugar maples or Japanese maples are gorgeous in the fall. Dwarf plums would be great (eggplant is another color that would be a nice addition to your palate). We have some evergreen shrubs that are plum-colored year-round and have small hot-pink flowers throughout the summer. With the taupe/chocolate/redwood/turquoise, any plant you choose with yellow-to-orange flowers will really pop!

Last idea - copper rain chains (to replace white downspouts) would be gorgeous with these colors!

I think that you have a lot of great suggestions above, so I won't add to the confusion. I will tell you, however, that down the line, when it comes time to replace your roof, you might consider changing the color. It looks very gray-white in these photos. I'd like to see something much more natural. I think a new roof color would improve the look of the house tremendously. In the future, I'd also consider a darker "dirt" colored mulch. You have some beautiful plantings and a lovely home, but some weird competing colors (like the white roof and the red mulch with the neutral stone). Picture darker mulch, a more natural looking roof, neutral trim colors. And then you do your cool turquoise door. There's your pop of color! You don't need the roof and the mulch to pop. :)

The door, you can pretty much do anything, but if you are leaving the security grate, I'd pick a dark color for the door to camouflage the grate. Eggplant?

On eaves, a knocked-down warm white.

Garage door: Something less yellow, and closer in value to the surrounding stucco.

Oh! To answer your question about the garage door, No!!! The garage door should compliment or match your trim colors. The front door can be anything you want it to be. So, no turquoise for the garage. But definitely for the front door. (Although if it were me, I'd go green or terra cotta.)

Creative license, I completely agree. Those were my two thoughts, the roof and the lava rock. Roofs are expensive, though, and if it doesn't need replacing yet, then I'd definitely postpone it. But when the time comes, I'd pick a darker (not dark, though) color and also more textured roof. It's amazing how much better the house will look. Don't get me wrong, I love your house! But it will look much better, and will probably increase the value of your house a lot.

I'd get rid of the lava rock. I hate it. I'd put in grey rock. In my area, redwood chips or shreds, which age to a lovely grey, tend to blow away, so I prefer rock, especially river rock in greys and browns.

Grays, Olives, and Yellows are a super hip combo and I totally give it my vote! Here are some inspirational photos to help you along, too.
http://www.decorpad.com/photos/2008/06/03/bea342fcee6c.jpg</a href>
http://thehaystackneedle.typepad.com/.a/6a01053610d3e6970b0111688875a0970c-pi</a href>
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ABxQ1a3VZhs/SxXsDqqnnVI/AAAAAAAABs8/ZmzdVHQ2Fk4/s400/pink_wallpaper_yellow_door%5B1%5D.jpg</a href>
I would go with a canary yellow for the door. I would also add accessories such as planters, seasonal flowers, hanging baskets, and maybe a park bench, painted similarly.
For the eaves and trim I would try to lighten it up either with a crisp white or a bright gray. If painted too dark, these could weigh down the face of the house.
The garage door bleeds into the eaves/trim area so my first thought would be to keep these the same. However, if you really want to make a statement, go color. I would choose a dark charcoal gray, and eventually convert the taupe stucco to the same color (down the road).
For the siding in the back, I would go olive. I think this will look great with the natural deck. Again, bring in some of the yellow accents.

Good luck! Great house!

Lovely lovely home!

I also might try to save for a custom or artist made screen door for some day in the future.

creative license - terra cotta was my first pick! I'm mostly leaning toward turquoise because my interior has turquoise accents as well, but the entry hall is two shades of orange, close to a terra cotta.

mcintyree - yes! We want to put in more flowering shrubs. We have two tiny baby japanese maples (you can barely see the stakes in the pics) that I've been watering like crazy this spring!

ihateketchup - I'm in love with the gray/yellow/olive combination, too! Too many choices.

The roof is, unfortunately, only a few years old. I agree that would make a huge difference. The lava rock was put in by the previous owners to sell the house (so it's also fairly new), and we hate it, too!! We've considered trying to sell it on craigslist, I just don't want to waste it. River rock is most likely what we would replace that with if we can get someone to take it off our hands.

This is Columbus, OH, by the way!

thanks, again, everybody.

Unless you have an architectural masterpiece, I would avoid choosing trim colors that are unrelated to the house color. This is a small house.

I am not seeing turquoise for this house, its does not have the lines or architectural features for this color.

I like the grey suggestion or take a look at the darkest stone and go two-three shades darker in the same tone and use that to paint the trim, eaves and garage door..then paint the front door a turquoise in a tone that will work or yellow or red.

i think olive would be great for the eaves and trim--with the garage door and siding a few shades darker than the existing stucco or a few shades lighter than the olive. the front door--burnt orange, or maybe eggplant

Are you having someone strip the deck for you? Because stripping paint to the point that you can re-stain it is a ton of work. There will be a ton of sanding to bring it down to the raw wood again and it looks like there's alot of nooks and crannies. If you do repaint it, I'd match the flooring boards on the deck instead of that burgundy color. Then add pops of color with cushions in turquoise and green, or turquoise and yellow.

We bought a 1956 ranch last year that has the same colors. We could'nt repaint the exterior right away for budget reasons, but we painted our front door bright peacock blue. It really pops against the beige and brightens up the whole house. As we move from redoing the interior to the exterior, we're thinking of using more of that color, since it looks so good against the sandy brick.

I'd be inclined to tie your house into the surrounding landscape by choosing colors that exist in your yard - such as the deep greens of your evergreen on the corner, the silver-green of the plants in the middle of your yard, or the terra-cotta color of the lava rocks.

You start painting your house turquoise, yellow or purple and your place will look more like a sideshow than a cohesive part of the landscape.

I complete agree with Bepsf - s/he beat me to it! I think shades of green are the way to go. Bright, punchy colors might look and feel right in the summer, but I think they would not at all during the other seasons. I like the idea of using a silvery, sagey green with dark dark green (mallard green, I call it) accents.

You absolutely positively for sure need to pull a color from the bricks/stacked stones, which is not occurring now. If you want a dark color, don't go darker than what is present in the stones, or grout.

I also like the suggestion of Bepsf about culling a pretty green from the front garden. I think a dark, rich brown on the stucco area (on the right of the photo) would really bring out the lovely silvery look of the stone in the front. Then a shade of green could be used on the front door, maybe a sage or something slightly darker, but not too dark. On the surrounding molding (don't know the proper term) that is underneath the gutters, maybe a much lighter, almost pale shade of green. Keeping in the green theme, a darker accent on the window surrounds as a accent...keeping in mind to use the same variations of the color. I would add a Japanese Maple tree or two to break up the greens in the garden and add some rich red.

If this were my house, I'd be very careful to stay within the same hue family as the stones in the front facade. I actually really like the stucco and the stones.

I can understand what you mean about it being beigey, but honestly, other than the door and maybe repainting the deck/railing, I'd keep it largely the way it is now. I think it looks nice, shows off the stone in front, etc. Also, for resale's sake, you probably don't want to go painting anything a wild color unless you plan to be here a really long time and don't mind re-blanding it down for resale because buyers truly have no imagination and one person's lovely color is another's abomination.

If this were my home, I'd add color through landscaping and change out that front door. Hydrangeas are amaaaazing for adding color and you can get them in blue or pink and those colors would go great with the front of the house. I'd get rid of the screen completely and paint the door a bright color, like red, Moorish Green or even a deep midnight blue.

I'd redo the deck railing in the back in maybe a darker slate color or a grey with some lavender undertones, not enough to be pink, but just enough to soften it up to go with the beige. Farrow and Ball's Elephant's Ear Grey is like that. I think they are too expensive so I'd recommend getting a match at Home Depot.

Hope that helps a bit and good luck and congrats on your new place!!!

Love the landscaping and the long, low horizontal line of the eaves. I like the idea of using olives, and black in the trim, and perhaps a shade of red or orange on the door to make it pop. Have you considered purchasing inexpensive software from your local home imporvement store that you can preview colors on?