How many shades of brown can one person look at before reaching a breaking point? If I’d kept track these past few months, I’d have that number for you now.
Week 5 marked a shift in our build: John returned to work after four weeks of “vacation;” there were actually weekdays the site was dormant because our crew had to tend to another job (though they still managed to get the cold roof on), and John and I officially reached our first impasse in decision-making.
We’ve breezed through other decisions so far, except this doozie of determining exterior colours.
We’ve chosen our window frames (“espresso”), shingles (“weathered wood”), metal roof accents and fascia (“coffee brown”), and of course the cedar timbers. We also settled on the stain for the tongue and groove that will form the ceiling of the main door porch.
For ages, we’ve been trying to select stain(s) for the soffit and the heavy, rough wood that will cover corners and distinguish the basement and main floor levels. And that’s where we’re stuck.
John prefers a very dark colour. I guess when it comes down to it, I don’t know what I want – just not that. I do know I want to feel excited and confident about our choices.
The siding colour we chose before Christmas was a green that might even be described as olive. This was our fall-back after our next-door neighbours put something almost identical to our first choice on their place.
Though I quite like the green, I have finally admitted I can’t picture it all over the house. And if we were to go with it, I think any more dark brown beyond what we’re already committed to is too much.
On Sunday, we met at the house to try to break our stalemate. Neither of us was budging. In frustration, John said every decision until now has been so easy.
And that’s when it clicked: our decisions have been easy – even the curved vs. straight braces debate was resolved in an afternoon – and we’re happy with all of them. The fact this one is so tough tells me we’re making a mistake. We need to take a step back.
(John may have been suggesting this the past while each time he asked me to look at another siding colour online, but apparently I had to get there myself.)
So “Rocky Tundra” is out and the search is back on.
Update: I may have found our siding colour during a prowl around online… I can actually visualize this one. I’ll show it to John when he gets home from a work trip. Fingers crossed…
The Perfect and The Good 
I like the idea of green actually. Blends with the forest etc..
Here is an idea from left field. Burnt red..great off site and eye catching. Not to bold
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Thanks for the feedback, Gord. We’ve thought of red too – a burnt shade would be nice. Still working on it!
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Hi Kelly,
It’s beautiful… All beautiful. As my husband and I try to sort out all of these decisions for a Timberbuilt home later this summer, I am relieved to hear that we are not alone. To say that some of these choices have taken hundreds of hours of research is not an exageration. We decided on the straight timbers, but seeing your beautifully curved detail simply suggests that this sort of workmanship is stunning no matter how you call it. Awe-inspiring in fact!
When we were at Timberbuilt Adam S suggested we look into Montana Timber Products for that weathered wood look. Even in you don’t use their product, it is great to see the color combinations they use. It sounds like you may already have this stain conundrum figured out. 🤔 Good luck!
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Thank you, Kathie. I believe you when you say hundreds of hours for some decisions. And when it comes to the straight braces, I was just admiring the Glauber Marshal in the recent Timber Home Living magazine and thought it looked great. I’m sure you’ll be just as thrilled with how your place comes together as we are with ours – perhaps more so, since you seem to be more on top of things than I feel, and we’re in the middle of it. Thanks also for the tip about Montana Timber Products. I had forgotten about them (John hadn’t – he’s the researcher) and took a look; it was good to see how the different browns can complement each other. I wish you well in your decision-making.
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As far as picking colours/stains…I feel your pain. It’s an arduous process and holding up swatches and trying to visualize what it will actually look like on site can cause temporary blindness!!! I like the grey spectrum myself, coffee browns are a nice accent. You both have great taste, I’m sure whatever you decide will look fabulous!!!
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Thanks for the vote of confidence, Dana! We received another round of siding samples last week and more will be arriving any day. I have a good feeling about this last bunch…
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