Before:

Proposed:

I think the brick would look fine and gi well with many nice colors
but that hideous pinkish would has got to go.

I'm not feeling that gray brick and blue trim combo. Visit your local paint stores and pick up the brochures they have on exterior color suggestions. Sherwin Williams has some good ones.

Also, try posting on the Home Decorating forum for more suggestions.

How about a deep burgany leaning toward the brown tones? A medium to dark range grey with blue tones might work as well. A baishy grey with blue tones might also work(yep I made up a word) I don,t know if that color combo exist though.

To get this look you likely would not have to paint the brick, just pull a warm, neutral gray that I suspect is *in* the brick already.

This would save you a ton of work. And clean the bricks, especially those near the soil level.

I envy you having a low, all-brick rancher.

I hope that you know that painting bricks changes them from a relatively low maintenance surface to a relatively high maintenance one. I'd avoid that at a pretty high cost.

Funcolors
I love your idea, I think it looks great and at a minimum amount of effort. I would never paint the brick, that could be a maintenance nightmare.

Thanks, shappy! :)

I put a virtual 'stain' on the brick - not paint. There are a gajillion masonry stains out there that can effectively change exterior brick color.

With the proper prep and highest quality products, you can paint or stain brick, concrete block and it will last a very, very long time.

But, agree, it's a lotta work so it's worth looking at ways to use color schemes to achieve desired curb appeal.

OMG!!!! Thank you everyone for your suggestions. FUNCOLORS, you really nailed it with the color selections. Thank you so much for the effort and your keen imagination. My original thoughts were stain but I assumed paint would give me a wider pallete. It's the strong yellow/gold tints I find objectionable. If I can get the results of your photo re-touch with stain I will surely do it. I will take the images to the nearest Sherwin Williams. And yes, the house needs a very thorough cleaning. In 30+ years it has never had rain gutters until last week.

You're quite welcome. :)

Masonry stains and sealers are actually kind of fascinating. My house in OH was a federal, red brick front. We had to seal it to stop a leak. I thought the repointing/mason expert was smokin' something but I figured wth, I'll try anything. It worked. We had "fixed" everything we could think of, called a bushel of experts and all it took was one can of masonry sealer and less than a half an hour to spray it on.

Amazeballs. After that we sealed it every two years. I learned brick is awesome but it's not totally maintenance free.

From then on I was a lil hooked on all the options available for coloring brick, block, concrete, etc.

Just do your homework, test/sample/experiment, buy top quality product.

You might dislike the color, but my guess is those are expensive bricks. Expensive as in you are very fortunate -- they don't make 'em like that any more and/or most people couldn't afford that quality building new.

Part of the issue is that the roofing doesn't match the house. There was a time when roofers recommended gray shingles for every one, even if the house was in the brown range. Painted brick is an upkeep issue forever. If I were buying a home, a painted brick would be a deterent.

I agree with funcolors, paint the wood a tone-on-tone look and just match the brick as close as possible. Then, I would recommend landscaping such as planting a tree like a Japanese maple that will grow slowly between the two windows on the right (thus hiding that wood panel) and perhaps a long window box under the double window on the left side of the house.

Can you afford to replace the front door with a door that will pop? Perhaps something with a lot of glass (I would stay away from the fakey brass-leaded pieced glass doors). Pulling that front door "out" would do a lot to make the house appear more inviting. Or, what about a "barn red" door ? If you paint the trim around the door in a light, coordinating beige, a rusty red door would really pop. The blue door doesn't work, in my opinion. Don't worry about matching the roof, most people don't really "see" the roof like we are seeing it in your pictures. Good luck!

Thanks for the ideas. The new roof does not show accurately in any of the images. It is actually black with some red highlights. I've seen a lot of red entry doors and like the idea. The house actually has the original wood 9-lite crossbuck door. What's visible in the image is a glass storm door which I will replace with a white frame storm door. I would love a Japanese maple between the windows. Someone had planted 2 crape myrtle trees there, under the eve! I transplanted them and they are now thriving in the sun. Thanks again!

funcolors

What brand of masonry sealer did you use did this change the colour of your brick? Can you share a photo.

Thanks

I would suggest painting the trim and door, and not the brick. save alot of time and money. You can also add some color by doing a little landscape.

Didn't change it - had to seal it - so it was just clear no sheen.

I have purchased colors for various projects, however. In this picture you can see the sealed front facade I referred to as well as a lil faux painting using colors to make the concrete block base of the porch look like brick.

Here is a link that might be useful: Trojan Masonry Sealer

Here's the base of the porch before.

funcolors
Thanks for the picture. I really like what you did to tie in the porch.

Would you review my home for suggestions. I posted here under "Brick Stain"

Do you have any picture of where you changed the color? My brick is pink.

K. Will take a look.

Hey, I know this post is like 3 years old but my husband and I are stumped about what to do with our home's exterior. I found this on accident and couldn't believe how similar our houses were! The yellowish brick with FLESH colored trim! Just like ours! We loved our house the second it was shown to us because of the inside but the outside is atrocious! I've always tried to find a house with the brick colored the way ours is and never could, because I was hoping to see what someone else was able to so with their trim to make that brick look nice. And here your house has the sand flesh colored trim- I really can't believe it! Curious to know what you ended up doing! I love the idea of painted/stained and sealed brick but my husband HATES it. I'd love to see the outcome of anything you did whether you painted your brick or just did something with that leash trim ! I sincerely hope this post gets seen!!!

Wow, I had forgotten about this thread. Thanks for bringing it back so I can post an update... Well, I decided not to change the bricks. Too much work and the possibility of making things worse and regretting it forever. So, after the new roof and rain gutters, I painted the trim white and the two wood accent areas a grayish blue. These two areas can now be easily masked and repainted any color in an afternoon if I want to make a change. Also, I cleaned the bricks with a power washer which helped a lot. Now that I have lived here for 8 years the brick color is not really an issue. I just need to make the rest of the house compliment the bricks. Landscaping would really help but is pretty far down the to-do list. But I am so happy that the flesh colored paint is all gone!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Much smarter than painting the brick!