I'm not wild about the idea of mustard yellow. I can see red or evergreen on the door. This is the only pic I could find, and can't photoshop.

Your roof looks gray and a red door would be a compliment to it You could do your trim in a greige color and that would probably integrate the concrete color of the steps and roof. At least it would add less starkness than the white.

I forgot to say I love your house valzone5. I can't wait to see your pics of the inside.

High gloss black on one door with the house numbers on a black-painted board -- and another color like deep but bright blue or olive green or yellow on the other door with the numbers on a white painted board.

Large round OR a larger urn painted white OR black with bright flowers in the middle space between the two doors.

Just cleaning up the gardens will make such a HUGE difference on the whole front facade! I would plant lots of herbs! :)

Isn't the existing garden a disaster?? I can't wait to get my hands on that!

I should mention that I am a very un-serious person, and I am looking for something cheerful and fun, so don't hold back on crazy color combos. The only restriction I have is that my neighbor (and co-owner) wants to have each door the same color (but teacats your idea is really neat and I will run it by him for sure!). I wanted a pink door, but he cringed at the thought, LOL! There are window boxes on the lower windows and they will be full of bright flowers next summer.

Congrats on your new home. I am not sure if that is all one home or are they two side by side.I am thinking maybe black doors and if you could black window trim.

Ooops, I was not understanding of a joint ownership. Just dinking around with the plantings will make it look better. Do you have to have permission to paint your door?

Side-by-side, but I own the entire building (my chest puffs out),so yes, I have permission to paint the door. And it just struck me that my first thought was YELLOW!?!?!?!

Excuse me... I am going to call a therapist now...

I could see red.. but it's so the obvious choice. If you are game for fun-- I'd love a deep purple :)

What about a navy blue?
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Just a quick sketch, do you have room for shutters? A center rail might be nice too : )

A deep grayed blue comes to my mind, one of the BM Historical colors like Van Deusen Blue; a muted dark mossy green like Peale Green or Avon Green would also look great, although if you were after a clearer, less-muddy deep green good old BM Readymix Essex Green would be a very good choice. Plum/eggplant could look very good IF the brick has the right colors in it, which is impossible to tell from the photo - if there's some plummy tone you can pull out of the brick you have got it made. That's what happened with the brick fireplace in the LR at my previous house, BM Wet Concrete (a grayed lavender) pulled out all these great purples in what I thought was just plain boring old red brick.

Bizarre as it sounds, though, I once lived in a brick red house with white trim and a TEAL front door and it looked terrific. I'm not talking soft teal or muted teal, I'm talking 1950s-kitchen kind of pop-your-eyes-out teal. So you never know!

I'm not feeling the love on mustard yellow, and black seems sort of, well, predictable (sorry teacats).

I do agree that when there is time and/or money (which I know will be a while!) consider bringing the trim down to a mellower off-white that isn't quite as harshly contrasty. Perhaps try to match the mortar color for window trim and then go for the gusto on the front door.

Have you joined the Old House Forum yet?

Oh, and DON'T let anyone powerwash the brick unless you are sure they know what they are doing with old brick. High pressure water can blast the smooth ceramic-like surface right off and expose the porous interior of the brick, which invites water absorption into the brick and makes for all kinds of nastiness down the road - cracking, spalling, crumbling... It can crumble the mortar right out of the joints, too, which means an expensive tuckpointing job.

I think the idea of deep fall mustard yellow would be wonderful! Black, or red or deep green are nice, but so expected. That deep golden mustard with the red brick is a very french provencal combo, warm and welcoming.

Although I am a fan of shutters, I think the decorative brick detailing along the window lines of the house is great, and I would not want to disturb that with shutters. I would love to see the railings painted black and the stair risers in the same white trim color, the treads in a deep grey slate.

Down the line, a black iron fence all around the perimeter, and a black iron railing for the staircase would be great, I think. A tree in the center of the yard on the right, a small bench and planters for a sitting area in the yard on the left, to make them feel like two distinct residences. All the tall evergreens gone.

Congrats on the new place - you should be proud!

So much for classic! Maybe this is not so serious? Deep royal blue shutters and ochre doors (which I like : )

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Oh, good for you! Many congratulations on your new ownership. That is a wonderful place. Enjoy and settle in before you paint. Why not do the garden area first and then you will have a better idea of what colors you want to showcase on your very nice home.

Color cheers the place up alot - thanks for the visuals! I was dying to know what the place would look like with shutters. I am not sure about them now. No doubt that they bring in color, which I want, but I'm still not sure. I'm also kind of ehhhn about the yellow, but the red is too blah.

Duh on me - I just thought to do a search on "yellow door" and then a few other colors. Here are some pictures that I found. I'm loving the colorful doors.

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This one is bit flamboyant LOL!

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Could definitely have fun doing something like that! I forget what part of the country are you in???

SW Wrought Iron, its a charcoal black color. This pic is a little faded out from the sun.

Now THAT is colorful! LOL!

I'm in New Brunswick - east coast of Canada.

What about one red door, and one yellow door?

Nothing says "English Manor" like ivy growing up the house. Ever think of antique roses? New Dawn climbing roses are gorgeous, and would look smashing on your house.

Question? What year was your house built? I could see a historcial sign in your yard.

....Jane

GK5040 is that your house? If so, tell us about it. It's absolutely beautiful.

....Jane

Brillant, WONDERFUL virtuals!! Just amazing what a bit of color and love would do for a house (or two ....)

Yes -- quite right Mari -- black would be a bit predictable (sigh ..... and I can be that way) -- and I just love LOVE all of the colors of yellow and blue! And the window boxes! What a wonderful sight on a bright summer morning!

Careful with ivy -- some varieties can literally dig out mortar between the bricks ....

Jan

Congrats on getting your house. Don't you just love the thought of being able to dig a hole, rip out a plant, paint it any color you want....? It's freedom! I love all the colors you picked for suggestions after your duh moment; those are inspiring. I totally love squirrelheaven's ochre and royal blue, it is my favorite. Cheerful without being over-the-top flamboyant. It's awesome. I do think a red door next to a yellow door looks like mustard and ketchup bottles sitting on a table, but that's just what the knee jerk thought was.

Good luck on updating it your way (without having to get permission, teehee)!

Canada! I've never been there but can imagine fun and unique things like that around from photographs : ) Is that where you got the pics above? They look from outside the States, pretty much. I must get up there some day!! I hear it's beautiful with lots of flowers, maybe like California. Is it cold and winter-y much of the year?

Nothing wrong with predictable. Classic looks are quite charming and always peaceful and beautiful : ) I love them too!!

>What about one red door, and one yellow doorThat was #1 (last set). What are you seeing?

Are you thinking this much color and funkiness? (would be around here : )

Your duplex reminds me a little of row houses in Dublin. I loved that all the doors were painted differently. Below is a link to a photo collection of doors.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dublin doors

arggg....because of a firewall (at work), the page doesn't load properly...I will have to check at home to see all of your pictures, squirrel.

The pictures that I found are not necessarily from Canada - not sure where they were taken.

Where I live, the climate is very similar to Wisconsin. Hot, humid summers, and cold, snowy winters. On the west coast it's much different - they close down if they get more than an inch of snow (from what I hear...never been there). They play golf year-round.

Ketchup and mustard, ROFL! Good point!

Ketchup/Mustard -- hate those analogies! Where do they come from. I think not! but here's an ochre with more orange and a red with some raspberry.

Just doodling, willy-nilly. Meant to put something back on the porch but forgot. Too happy? lol : ) In the right neighborhood, I just love these.

I read here, I believe, that in Ireland, doors are painted all different colors so that drunken husbands can find their way to the right home at night!

Guess I should say -- are they looong winters? Maybe it varies quite a bit coast to coast?

It varies hugely. On the west coast they golf all year, and on the east coast the snow starts anytime between October and January, and melts in April.

Every now and again, the pictures load (hate the restrictions here at work...sheesh, don't they realize that I am busy with important details like picking my front door color??!!) Anyway, I saw a couple of your mockups that I really like, and will show you tonight at home.

Val, can you get into ImageShack directly?

Aha! This one snuck through. This one is on the short list. I love it. How would it look with one yellow and one teal?

Here is a link that might be useful:

Nope - can't get in. All picture sites are firewalled. Every now and then a picture will sneak through. That's my only hope at work.

How about sending me your email and maybe they'll get through that way : )

I love the photos of the teal colored doors, I agree with whoever posted above that that combo wouldn't at first glance seem to be attractive, but it truely is. I think white trim, black shutters and a teal color door - I especially like the one where the entry is like a small tunnel.

Just to be honest, not loving the two colored doors - purple/yellow etc...looks preschoolsih or daycareish to me for some reason.

But, it's only paint, so you can always redo it if you don't like it.

I love the aqua blue doors in Valzone's inspiration post -- very cheerful (probably because close to the complement of brick color).

Here's what I think...
The beauty of older brick is the subtlety of tone and color variation. Primary colors almost always look garish beside it, and tend to make its beauty disappear, but strong colors that are not primaries can look great. I would also caution against red...unless the red has a lot of brown and orange in it, it will make the brick itself look orangey, and not in a good way! A very strong version of brick red with a golden undertone would solve that problem...otherwise, if you wanted green, I'd choose one that is more toward olive than forest. For blue, if you didn't want navy (and you need a really dark navy for exteriors), I would choose one of the deep subtle blues with a lot of green in them...ranging from aqua to peacock, but grayed down a little. I'd also recommend a really high gloss, which is what makes European doors look so great. Also wears much better over time. It would be a shame to lose the richness of the brick with a too-youthful version of strong color, I think. It's all about making the whole look wonderful, not just the door, don't you think? You might also consider painting the downspout to match the darkest tone of the brick...?
Fine Paints of Europe sells a door kit, which includes enough of their excellent primer and their European enamel and the right thinner and a really good brush - I used it on our door and shutters in black, and it is absolutely gorgeous. The painter loved it, and all my neighbors have demanded to know what we did!

Jane, that was my house in NC. We moved to FL 2 yrs ago and how I wish to move back:(

I love the "separate, but equal" door canopy (in color other than white, tho')

Non-white windows with brick seem better

Adorned wall

I wanted to get some inspiration - this time from my own neighborhood, so I took my camera and headed out...came back home 3 hours later, and had 500 pictures on my camera, LOL! Here are some of my favorite doors. I seem to have a thing for yellow doors.

If you have some time to kill and feel like seeing some doors/windows with neat color combinations and lots of character, go to the link below.

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Here is a link that might be useful: Local Exteriors

Okay, LMAO that you want a yellow door. I like teacats' idea best so far.

I don't mind the yellow, just don't do primary crayon yellow. None of the doors you've posted are in your face bright yellow. Just do them both in the same color!

I cannot get into that link. I think I need a password.
I like the 3 yellow doors that you posted. I am confused with Carol saying do not do primary crayon yellow and saying the yellow you posteed above is OK. Am I wrong or would the yellow you posted not be primary yellow. I am useless when it comes to understanding these color nuances.

Valzone, love your door pix. To me, the color of the first one you posted of the three yellows is closest to what I was thinking. More gold than yellow, almost antiqued in feel.

Cranberry doors with khaki door surrounds along with khaki vestibule trim. Add the shutters too.

It's a stately house. Dress it accordingly. *S*

And my heartfelt congratulations to you Val! You make a great landlord and a wonderful neighbor.

Michael

Oops- try the link now

http://s24.photobucket.com/albums/c38/bobval/exteriors/

Thanks Michael :O)

Les - I too was thinking a golden/fall yellow - more muted. I said mustard, but I mean more of a dijon maybe :O)

Here's a mockup that squirrel did with two teal doors. She even put the pink roses in for me :O) (I am nuts about pink roses and will be planting a pink climbing rose).

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Here's a brick house in my neighborhood with a teal door:

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And here's a brick house that has some creamy trim...definitely nicer than white!

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Here is a link that might be useful: Exteriors

I like the teal with a creamier trim around the doors and windows.

I love your house. Tons of many good suggestions on color above.

The first thing I saw was the angle of the garden wall. I would rebuild it so that the top of the wall is parallel to the house. There are three angles going on (house, street and garden wall). I think the garden wall makes the house look the foundation is lower on the left.

Congratulations on your new home! You have a lot of possibilities. Personally, I would go for a charcoal colour, similar to the SW wrought iron that someone posted, above. A very sharp contrast is SW Charleston Green, which is 7 parts black to 1 part green. It changes colour with the light and weather. That is the colour we have on our door and shutters.

Perhaps you could try a very gray/aubergine colour. You'd probably have to tinker with it for it to go with your brick. Or, have you considered a beautiful polished wood door?