One of my favorite houses has weeping mortar :) --pretty rare, I think.

Could you post a close up that shows the current brick against the current trim and shutter? I think that Navajo White should work, but it would help to see the brick better.

Thanks! I hope we can get the paint colors and landscaping right so our weeping mortar looks nice as well.

Here is a close up. You can that the shutters/doors and gutters/soffits are a bit different brown which is why I am having trouble picking the brown. I also read that Davenport Tan sometime reads green, so thats my worry there.

I never knew that style of brick was called "weeping mortar" -- a new one for me to remember! I like the look, too :-)

IMHO a light color around the window will help them stand out and seem fresher. I think you have a very pretty house!

i really.. and mean .. REALLY .. like it the windows gold ...

i think white would stand out like a sore thumb ...

are there any similar homes in the area ... that is one good way.. to SEE how others deal with it all

change for the sake of change.. is not always good ...

of course.. you can always repaint ...

the paint scheme.. is very prairie in its color range.. somewhat bringing frank lloyd Wright to mind ....

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: not a white window among them ...

Have you considered a light gray to match the mortar?

oh and also ken_adrian I have driven around and found a couple other examples. 2 houses with the exact brick-- one has the siding painted pink and the trim white-- does not look good at all. The other is a large and beautiful MCM house that is all brick with dark brown trim. The only accent is a taupe around the front door.

The other few houses I have found painted the brick and the mortar either white or gray. And I can't seem to find any similar houses online!

I used chip it! on your brick and it's interesting. Part of the problem is it's not dark brown, but more of a dark charcoal gray in the brick.

So I also ran it through color palette fx and it has found some surprising colors including a shade of pink in the picture. Now some of the shades of green and blue are coming from the reflection in the window, so I'd ignore those....

I think your house is lovely! It looks just beautiful with the colors you have actually imho, but I see what you mean about the siding and trim in that one picture of the two with the small window. I don't think a white would work at all, but then, I have a sort of boysenberry colored trim/windows. How about painting the siding a warm taupe color?

Personally, I'm not a fan of the mustard and I'd go with something a little more white for the window trims and I'd pick a dark red like this SW cordovan for the accent color. I think it would look a lot brighter and updated.

I guess I am going to be different.....What do you think of the trim painted the color of your front door and/or shutters? Look like they are the same color. I am not fond of the gold at all. I would go darker, rather than light.

This post was edited by grandmaof3 on Wed, Jul 2, 14 at 14:20

I guess I am going to be different.....What do you think of the trim painted the color of your front door and/or shutters? Look like they are the same color. I am not fond of the gold at all. I would go darker, rather than lighter.

This post was edited by grandmaof3 on Wed, Jul 2, 14 at 14:16

I didn't nail the colors exactly (that's supposed to be Navajo White for the trim). But I think if you went with a warm golden brown for the shutters and the garage door (even though it's new and you're reluctant to paint it), or some kind of colors that blend in with the beautiful brick, it would make the house look longer and all one piece instead of being chopped up with different colors.

Going low contrast on the shutters and trim also would let the brick and that wonderful weeping mortar be the big decorative statements instead of the run-of-the-mill shutters and garage door. Your front door is nice too: leave that brown for a central focal point.

These colors aren't quite right, but at least you can see how the house looks longer & how low contrast doesn't compete with the brick for attention.

This post was edited by awm03 on Wed, Jul 2, 14 at 15:28

Thanks all for your time and opinions. In the meantime I went to the paint store and picked up many more chips. Its good to see that there is not a clear answer that I am missing and I appreciate all your ideas to consider.

AnnieDeighnaugh, I think you have explained why the house down the block chose pink for the siding! Thats almost the exact color they chose and I hadnt seen that in there before!

soooo .. if i understand.. you dont really mind the front facade ... its more the sides that are bothering you ... thats where the monotone is.. to your eye ...

i guess i dont know why you would not just change the sides???

but boy.. looking at the side .. i have no clue where i would go with those vertical lines .... and that tiny window... yikes ...

but i still like the front as it is ...

part of your side problem.. could be accomplished with trellises.. and introducing a vertical element to your foundation plantings ... that is part of the problem... the vast unbroken wall ... leading you to one vast unbroken color.. whatever it may be ... and i am still flustered by the vertical rather than horizontal siding.. whats that all about.. lol ...

just playing devils advocate.. and adding variables for you to consider.. outside the box you are standing in ..

props for hunting the area to scope out other paint schemes... its always nice to see it done wrong... lol ...

ken

The brown you have now is quite classy, I think if you dialed back the gold in the trim to a dull taupe and painted same on your siding would be elegant. White, no. Funny that brown shutter shade is not a warm color to my eyes and perfect with that brick.

Thanks guys. I should probably say that thats probably the ugliest side of the house I posted- the side of the garage! There is more siding and windows in the back, including a sun porch-- all painted in the gold. I think I could keep the gold trim if the house was all brick, but I just can't imagine what color siding could go with the gold trim! And there is substantial siding and windows around the house.

Navajo white is more cream than white, but I really do fear it will be to stark. Maybe the only answer is a monotone. Which is probably why they have had it like this for from what I hear at least 40 years!

The shutters do look nice with the brick. I just wish the gutters and garage were the same color brown :) Can't realistically change those at the moment!

Beautiful ranch house. I love it!

Have you looked at the exterior color combinations suggested by Ben Moore? Go the Ben Moore page posted below and scroll down to where they used rich clay brown (2164-30).

Here is a link that might be useful: Ben Moore exterior colors

Funny I was just looking at that! And wishing I saw that before I went to the paint store! I will have to get those chips because they just might work.

I really like what awm03 did with the colors. Without all the dark chopping up the facade, the house looks really beautiful and serene.

I just found this thread and was hoping to see what happened to the house in question. It is similar to my house colors and I'm having a real hard time picking new paint colors for the strange colored brick. CD0321 if you're still around, could you post a photo of what you decided to do?