Design Dilemma is back y'all! Sam Pynn (who'll probably kill me for writing y'all in the same line as her name) will be fielding your questions and 
making sense of your grapples with decorating for the next fortunate while!
Sam has been on a steady diet of beautiful spaces thanks to her one-hour special, The Mix, and her 14-part, exclusive web series of the same name, so why should she keep all that decorating wisdom to herself?
First up: David from Toronto. David is looking to get advice on siding options for his family home. David and I exchanged a few emails when he pulled out the real talk and confessed that his wife is less than happy with the new black windows he convinced her on, and that if we don't help him make a cladding decision soon, he'll be facing more than the unfinished look of his home's facade...
From David: Hi, we have a major dilemma. We ordered new Kolbe windows which are now installed, but still can't make a decision on house siding. The true dilemma is that I ordered the windows and promised my wife they
would look alright until we made a cladding decision, but it obviously
looks unfinished and she is angry with me!
I'm thinking Cape Cod siding in grey with white trim below the soffits
and painted, lighter grey cedar shake on the upper half? They could be
separated by a thick white trim board with white pillars (you can only see one of our pillars in the original photo). Right now our house looks like an ugly commercial
building because it has very few architectural features and it's all
one medium. I dislike stucco, but that's the other idea.
Another idea was to do natural cedar shake on top with white siding below. The above example is in slightly different colours, and I have to work with my new black windows with the 3-inch white trim, but you get the idea.
This is another idea, but it might be too stark.
Lastly, a friend of mine sketched out what we were thinking, but another dilemma is the number of mediums. Can you use three different mediums on a smaller house like ours? Cedar shake, wood siding and something else for the bump out?
Thanks for you're help!
Dave
Samantha Pynn: Hi David, I love your inspiration shots! As well as the sketch. All options -- white house with vinyl siding; cedar shingles, vinyl siding, and copper roof; and, wood shingles with wood siding -- are gorgeous. I called contractor and window and siding expert, John Mazolli, of Cerastone, to discussed your options.
- You can definitely finish your home in vinyl siding. This will be the least expensive option. If you clad the entire house in white siding you'll be able to leave the thick window frames white, and in that case, I would suggest painting the Juliet balcony doors black to match the windows.
- Regarding shingles, according to John, they're very difficult to install on top of concrete. We were unable to tell from your photo whether the facade of your house is concrete or a parge mix, but shingles are usually nailed into sheeting. It's also worth noting that cedar requires annual treating and weatherproofing. Of course it can all be done, as long as you understand the maintenance required, and that your facade will require wood framing to apply the sheeting for the shingles.
- Combining different mediums is perfectly fine providing you paint the trim all one colour to better unify the facade. Paint the double doors black (to work with your windows) and the 6" pine molding, crown and panels all the same colour. If you are leaving the trim around your windows white (if the trim is vinyl, you're leaving it white) then paint all the trimming white. Your home would look great in a historic grey, but its current putty is also a good colour to draw on. To keep the look unified like in your inspiration shots, opt for shingles that are stained in the same tone as the colour of your siding.
All the best,
Sam
What a headache! What do you guys think Dave should do? Poor Dave -- so many decisions to make... If Dave's wife is reading this -- he's trying!
If you have a Design Dilemma to share, send us a photo along with your question to stylesheetAThgtvDOTca and we'll try to rustle up some help for you!
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