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TanCalGal Here's an idea: I think your yellow is way too yellow. :( I'd choose more of a buff. Like this:

Aja Mazin Yikes!

Ironwood Builders Start color schemes with the one you can't change...the stone. Go to the stone yard. Pick three to five samples of stuff that appeals to you. Paint can change easy...stone is more a lifetime decision.

Aja Mazin I agree with Ironwood Builders.

Paint is cheap, stone is not.

mushujanine Well Ironwood and Aja didn't seem to read my post that I am using siding- which isn't easy or cheap to change. I am pretty set on these colors since I feel the neighborhood needs a pop of color in a sea of beige and browns. See the following photos to get a better idea of what these two kinds of siding look like on actual homes. If anyone has recommendations based on this color palette I would find those the most useful.

Ironwood Builders Sorry, your question was what kind of stone...and my answer still holds. Once installed the stone is massively expensive to alter. Siding paints, even vinyl siding paints. And I'm also sorry, you were not specific about using a pre stain or vinyl siding. Take a sample of your siding to the stone yard. What looks best to you? With your yellow, there are many buff or blue selections.

TanCalGal My answer still holds, too. I think the house is too yellow. A more buff color looks very nice with stone. Further, if the neighborhood is a "sea of beige & brown" as U state, it is best to blend in to the neighborhood & not stick out like a yellow thumb.

Aja Mazin I recommend BM Mr. Grumpy Pants Gray.

Ironwood Builders Really! I keep looking for that one in my books! Is that a historic color or on of the aura decks?

Chameleon Power Try this stone exterior visualizer at http://gaf.chameleonpower.com and upload a photo of your own home to see how different stone exteriors will look.

Ironwood Builders BTW mushujanine, the advice is what you asked for...given for free. From pros that know. Not liking what you hear is one thing...being gracious for the gift entirely different.

mushujanine Ironwood, I guess I am getting stressed because decisions need to be made in the next 1-2 weeks. I was hoping to get directed to specific stone samples that would enhance or complement the colors I've picked out. Instead I get told to "start over" or I get comments from non-professionals that aren't advice at all but just hurtful remarks. We've been to the stone yard 3 times now to look at products. I've then driven to homes that have the stone installed and have found that often times the stone looks completely different than in the showroom. This makes me wary to try and pick out a stone and build a palette off of it since I've noticed how strikingly different they look once installed. One stone I have liked the look of after seeing it installed on 3 different homes is called Chilton Ledgestone. Only thing I'm not certain about is whether the tendency of this stone to pick up some purplish tones would clash with the house or not. Here is a home with that stone on it. What do you think?

Aja Mazin I like that stone.
I can see no purplish tones.

However if your are seeing purple, then the undertone in the paint is the culprit.

wildfan If you can, I would try to find real stone. I think it almost always looks better than veneer. When we picked out stone for our house I narrowed it down to four that fit into our budget and went with our color scheme. I narrowed it down further by eliminating the two that were veneer. The two remaining were real stone, one dark and one light. It was easy from there, as I wanted a darker stone to go with the wood grain garage doors.

If there are certain parts of the stone you don't like, they can toss those, use fewer, or place them lower where landscaping might cover them up.

I also drove around to look at houses that have the stone I was looking at. Did you hold your siding up to the stone outdoors? I think the stone in the picture you posted would look nice, but I'm no pro.

Ironwood Builders Good morning! I'm seeing a lot of grey in the last photo you posted...not sure I like that with the yellow siding. I'm thinking perhaps a more blue color or retreat to the earth tones. I'll send you a picture of an earth ledge stone we used. It is a natural stone, cut to a veneer. And a blend! My stone yard sets up sample walls for customers to preview choices...surprised you don't have similar customer service (read salesmanship). And don't worry...we all understand the timeline stress...didn't know it was so pressing.

Ironwood Builders Does this help?

mushujanine Wildfan - I agree that one can definitely tell the real from the fake. The chilton ledgestone is real stone and I'm sure that's part of the reason why we are drawn to it!

Ironwood- The picture helps, I see where you are trying to go with the color mixture. Added variation in color gives the stone more interest. I will have to talk to with the supplier about mixing some different stone types together and hope the cost isn't prohibitive! They have about 10 stone sample pillars outside. Seems like the target consumer for those products was geared more towards commercial than residential use so we weren't really drawn to any of the displays outside. As far as installation, I liked the look of dry-stacked and the company said they could do an install that they like to call "fake" drystack- basically slap mortar on the back of the stone but not putting much inbetween the stones so that the front part looks similar to dry stack. Sounds like it should work but I don't have the expertise on whether it's a good idea or not.

Ironwood Builders The fireplace in the photo was done in a similar fashion, that is, dry stack with mortar behind. More labor intensive, yes, but the net result is much more acceptable with the ledgestone. I recommend the installation for buildings....real drystack won't adhere to the structure and needs to be quite thick to support itself.

mushujanine Oke doke, we'll go in that direction. Thanks for the advice!