Home Exterior Painting Decisions: A Gray Area (Part III)

I don't know if you've been following along with my last couple blog posts, but I have a problem and it goes by the name of "Gray." This should come as no surprise to anyone, as I've had plenty of experience with gray paint in our house. This decision feels a little more nerve-racking than usual though, since it involves painting the entire exterior of our house (and paying someone else to do it).

The latest update in the saga is that I've tried out five samples of Sherwin-Williams colors:

• Dovetail
• Classic French Gray
• Peppercorn
• Gauntlet Gray
• Westchester Gray

It's quite a range from light to dark and warm to cool. But we're going for a dramatic change from what we have now, which rules out Dovetail and Classic French Gray (although these are lovely colors which I would definitely consider for an interior room in the future). 

Top: Gauntlet Gray
Bottom: Dovetail

Top to bottom:
Classic French Gray, Gauntlet Gray, and Westchester Gray

Based on the samples I've painted on the side of our house, Gauntlet Gray has a lot of brown undertones, which probably makes it a safe choice. The lady at Sherwin-Williams said it's also pretty popular for exteriors. Westchester Gray is a nice, medium cool gray (but maybe too cool??). And Peppercorn is more of a dark charcoal-ish. I'm digging the Peppercorn but it's hard to tell whether it has any blue tones (which we want to avoid) when it's next to the brown-ish Gauntlet Gray.

Peppercorn in the sample container. It looks like it has brown undertones here...

Top to bottom:
Peppercorn, Gauntlet Gray, and Westchester Gray

Don't pay attention to the pile of orange bricks above. We do, however, have reddish brick on the front of our house which needs to be taken into consideration for this decision. So I painted a small section of the Peppercorn next to some of the brick. I think it works...

If we did go with something as dark as Peppercorn for our siding, we're considering getting a white carriage garage door which would brighten things up and boost our curb appeal general. So much to think about! For reference, here's a photo of our house as it is now:

And here are a couple inspiration photos I found on Pinterest that supposedly feature a Peppercorn exterior with brick and white trim:

{via Pinterest}

{via Pinterest}

It's worth noting that I'm not necessarily tied to Sherwin-Williams colors, but haven't tried out any other brands for comparison at this point. The SW store is just really close and convenient, and I know they have a good color selection! 

So what are your thoughts on our direction so far? Are we getting too dark and dramatic with Peppercorn? Should we stick with the safer choice of Gauntlet Gray? Help!