Yes, choosing brick was very hard for us. The sample boards are useless and mortar color can change the whole look. We also wanted a reddish brick but we wanted white mortar. So we choose a deep red with white specks in it and a subtle amount of dark gray in it to match our siding. It came out good but we were unsure all the way up until the bricklayers actually laid the brick. It was one of our hardest decisions.

I stress about my brick. I'm only doing a fireplace, and maybe the front walkway. But choosing from sample boards is almost impossible. I'm not even lucky enough to have photos of the brick on a full building. I love that picture, though.

JDez, do you mind sharing what specific brick you chose?

Columbus Annandale Queen

Beautiful brick...thank you! It ties in nicely with the white mortar.

dreamer and JDez, love both choices!

Mine is called brownstone. We drove around a newer neighborhood and found this house and both agreed that we liked it and the stone which we are also going to do. Picking our brick has been the least stressful choice thus far. I've driven by it a couple of times to take notice of the trim color and roof shingle color. I hope the owners don't think I am a stalker or anything!

very nice! There have been many times when I've wanted to just stop and ask a homeowner the specifics on their brick, lol.

Brick was really tough for us dreamer. It is really one of the most important exterior components inasmuch as you are stuck with the color unless you decide to paint it. I had a directive from my husband not to get anything that was brown-based as we live in a sea of new homes that are pretty much the same 3 shades of beige. So I picked a muted red Hanson brick, made in Texas. Really lost some sleep about that, as you know- it's hard to visualize unless you can see a large wall done in it. Then, the way you do your mortar can really affect the way it looks as well.

We needed to coordinate our brick with stone- so this is how it turned out.

Here's dreamer's picture

Thank you, Annie! We love that picture. Here's a picture of a house that we drove by with the same brick color. We really like it, as well. BUT, we drove by some others with the same brick that we didn't love. And it seems like everyone who uses this brick does really dark shutters to tie in with the dark brick tones. We didn't really plan on using shutters. In sum, I think we've decided to keep on searching for our brick color.

This is timely for me. I am really STRESSING over getting the right look for our home. I do not want red brick. I am looking for a brown or grey toned brick since I am doing a cottage-style home. I am partial to browns and tans. Initially, I wanted to do a light colored brick, but we are adding stone accents and my builder suggested a darker tone to go with some stone. So needless to say I am a bit unsure of how the brick we are looking at will look on a large expanse of our home. We have a brick from Triangle company that we were looking at called Cheseapeak Grey. At this point there is no homes nearby that have built with it so I have no idea how it will look. We are looking to do a stone accent arch over our front door that goes about two stories.

zoe, often brick and stone don't work well together. I'm linking to another thread where I posted some examples of what I think works and what doesn't. You may find it useful.

Here is a link that might be useful: brick/stone

Thanks, Annie! I am aware of that since I noticed it alot myself. That is why I am trying to stay with a plain color brick with not too much variation. Problem is when you do find a combination that you love, the brick is no longer available. Sigh!