The Yard Part 3- People with Dark Houses

Over the next few months we'll be knee deep into the exterior projects.  First off we'll be replacing the deck off the back of the house, a major undertaking, it will wrap around the side of the house and connect to the front yard gate, allowing us to bypass the existing stairs which are dangerous and pretty ugly. I'll be sharing that project when it begins in a couple of weeks, but for now, I need some advice.  After the deck goes up the painters come in, and I need to make some decisions.  We're going dark, really dark, I want the house to recede and pop at the same time. Here are the inspiration photos ranging from dull gray to navy to almost black (believe me, I'd paint it black if I wasn't afraid of the neighbors). I like the hint of blue that you see in many of the options.  Let me know which is your favorite.  I'll post another before picture of the current paint job at the end.

Here's our house, new fence, we'll be losing the shutters, and the color blocking...

And here are my favorites from the Benjamin Moore color decks. 

All photos sourced from

Houzz

, with the exception of the photo of my house and the swatches.