You COULD paint the brick, to remove it as an obstacle to your favorite color choice.

I would add some shutters to the top floor and paint all of them and the the front door black take the storm door off and just have the door that is there. add a cople of black planters on either side of the garage door and a black window box under the window next to the door filled with colorful annuals in the summer and Christmas greenery and holly in the winter, I would leave the garage door the same color as it is I really dislike garage doors being what catches your eye on a house unless it is really spectacular.

I would keep the brick, siding and garage door all in the same taupe or beige you have. Sounds like you like cool blue shades that will work with the neutrals you have. Just paint shutters, front door and storm door a deep blue grey. Easy change if you decide to change those accents to a different color later.

May house is bottom half brick and top half siding. Unfortunately we are attached to another house on one side so compromises were needed. I wanted dark or light blue or yellow but may neighbor was non-compromising and we ended up with grey. I feel like I am living under a dark cloud. I HATE IT. I painted my front door blue and he hasn't spoken to me since. My point is, you should do what pleases you. I think your color ideas are great. If I knew how to do a photo I could show you what not to do. Haha. PS - I personally do not like the look of painted brick. I quite like the look of brick. Good luck and keep us posted.

Our roof is medium grey. Yummy. NOT. So many color choices. Bring home the sample book and put the roofing color next to the siding color. Not much doesn't go with brick.

This medium blue grey painted on your siding would go nicely with your brick. Then white trim and shutters would brighten it all up.

Although your
thoughts have gone to color I think you need to consider all of the home's patterns
and textures first. You have siding with
a cedar shake type texture, a bold patterned brick front, raised paneled garage
door, and a textured looking roof. Bring
the elevation of the house low to street level and the eye can’t seem to land
anywhere. So like Maureen recommended, I
would narrow your focus and use one unifying color to eliminate some of those
competing elements. Initially I would not paint the brick center and keep it as your one textured center focus. Other areas will be easier to tackle first and then change later; painting the brick would be a permanent committment (although I love, love painted brick!). You definitely need
shutters on the top windows, maybe under the window flower boxes? And I would
trim or cut down the holly. It’s size
makes the scale of the door look dwarfed and unimportant from the street and blocks and cuts in half the line of sight to the left wing of the house. You might look for a color only with warm
undertones since you say the brick turns yellowish or look on the color wheel
and find a color exactly opposite the color of your brick and mortar. Find
someone who loves to mix paint colors at your local stores: I learned a lot just
by buying the $5 oops cans at Home Depot and mixing my own blends. Using the suggestion for planters painted your accent color to the side of the garage door, under the multiple windows will give definition to the driveway and center of the house.

If you add shutters to the upper floor windows, please make them exactly half the window width, as if they could actually close and protect the window. It's an instant turn-off for me when I see "shutters" on each side of a large window that are obviously just decorative plant-ons. (Not to be critical, but you might consider removing the inoperable shutters at the left as a way to minimize textures.)

I did a mock up of a blue/gray (picture 1)

but I don't think it really complements your house. I tried some yellow tones and liked them even less. A dark taupe (picture 2)

or a darker gray (picture 3)

seem to be a better fit with your brick.

Go bright! Yellow is fun. I think going with grey blue & white along with the reddish brick is a bit American flag-ish, in my opinion. What part of the US are you in? I think the yellow, with reddish brick & dark blue roofing with those gorgeous green trees in the back would look lovely.

I'd stick with the taupe but paint the brick a cream or lighter version of the taupe- would modernize it. Then pick the accent you like for the door and add shutters and accessories.

Kevin, how did you do these mock-ups? We are having an exterior paint dilemma also, and this would really help!

@bsarcona - many paint stores can help in this regard. If you take a digital picture of your home, they will input and the program allows you to try different colors yourself until you are happy with the combination.

Thank you Kevin!!! Ugh the damn brick is really throwing everything off for me. I live in a gloomy city so was trying to stay away from the dark colors. Do you think a light grey would be better?

And thank you everyone for the suggestions! I do plan on getting rid of the bushes and that tree that is awkwardly crooked in front.

Here's a closer photo of te color of brick.. It's so dull. Maybe white wash it?

If you hate the brick, you can detract from it by adding shutters to that window and when you paint the front and screen door, add some urns/flowers, and you may not even notice the brick. I would paint or restain the bench also and add some great pillows and make the porch more inviting and a focal point.

There are lovely blue-gray exterior shades that wouldn't be too strong a contrast to your brick.The brick isn't too bright in any case, judging from the photo. No reason you can't find a color that makes you happy!

Way to go Kevin. I did basically the same type color mock-up (taupe w/black accents and black shudders). A nice stained front door framed with outdoor lights would be a compliment. As it's hard to tell how close the walkway is to the house you could consider adding a couple of columns from ground to roof in front of the brick wall portion of the house with a couple of sections of decorative railing between the columns. This would keep the brick from being the focal point.

I like it the way it is. I would totally redo the landscaping.

Go with picture #3, Is there even a question? A wood toned front door, possibly a dark cherry or walnut will keep it warm and inviting. There are ways to stain it. You also need a medium sized coach light on the left AND right of the door to play up the entrance and give symmetry to an otherwise very asymmetrical house. Remove the storm door and play up the front door.

No one is going to sit on the bench, so remove it and replace with a large seasonal filled planter box OR a topiary under each coach light on each side of the door to again play up the entry which could not be any more non-descript now. don't do both. If the house is painted and the entrance is played up then the brick becomes just an interesting textural element as it should be. Please don't paint it. The dark shutters and white trim will really help define the windows.

Dear Robin,

You are welcome but also thank Kevin as his #3 rendering says alot. It also should be the same style and dark colored shutters for all the windows so that they all relate. The same could be said for the style of coach light an each side of the front door and over the garage door. Once again creating harmony, so that you don't have to many disparate elements going on.

Robin,

P.S. Please try to keep the bushes on the left side if they are healthy and just trim them so that they are shorter and level from left to right across the top, to the bottom of the window, otherwise the front of the house will look naked if there is no greenery or trees. The main tree blocking the front door could be trimmed back by any professional and it will fill in slowly.

bsarcona, I use Powerpoint. I create a polygon over the area I want to recolor and then pick a color and a percentage of transparency. Once that's done I save it as a JPEG so it's easy to import to Houzz.

Robin, I did a couple of more mark ups with a light gray paint, with the garage door and the brick a little bit darker. Hope these help.

Thanks Kevin! What a great idea! I'll give it a try! We're getting ready to paint the exterior of a house built in 1950. Small and simple, but we want to make it look interesting, updated and inviting. It's pink right now, so anything would be an improvement! :-( This discussion has been helpful because There is a huge brick chimney on the front of the house.

Maureen, I just read your comment. Thank you! I will take a picture today!

bsarcona - hope you can find a local hardware or paint store that has the program. Good luck.

I just posted the same question! Kevin Strader, I would love if you check out my post and show me some ideas for mine! We have stone rather brick, so I don't think painting that would be an option. I agree you should paint your brick. Have you considered possibly going white? That could give it more of a clean look, and you did say you wanted to brighten it up! I am all about a beautiful blue or accent color for the front door, just not sure how to match the garage. Good luck! Can't wait to see how yours turns out! Not trying to hijack your post, however, I wanted you to see what I'm working with and I'd love ideas as well!

Would love to be able to help but right off the bat you can't even see the front door because of the trees overgrowth. It is almost the same exact issue as Robin above. You need to define the entry better. The stonework is beautiful, perhaps a recessed light over the door so that that area is slightly brighter at night than say, the two small lights flanking the expansive garage door. Also add color in flowers and plantings around the door area to draw the eye there. Seed the lawn with grass seed specifically for shaded areas.

Amy, with you roof color I wouldn't change the color too drastically, just something with a little more depth and some gray tones to pick up the darker tones of the stone. You could paint the door just a shade darker.

What I really think would help is:

1. Trimming the tree back to expose more of the entry, painting the door a brighter color to draw the eye, and more importantly, if;

2) You could afford to change the garage door to something with some windows and possibly stained so you don't see that huge blank space first.

Something like these:

If possible it would certainly help to tie in the front door to the wood garage doors as shown above. Same finish with the panels horizontal as shown, if you should go that route.

Thanks so much! You guys are awesome! I agree to tie in the wood garage door somewhere on the entry.
I need to find a landscaper to cut back all the overgrowth, talk to a garage door company, we have a painter on standby when I'm ready to move forward. Now I'm getting excited about working on the garage door! Thanks again!

I would love to hear what you decided on!

Kevin Strader I'm not sure how to contact you directly. I've decided on light gray, my husband prefers a green gray. If it's not too much trouble for you to do a mock up of a gray with dark green gray accents (trim, etc) I'd love to see. Unfortunately adding a new garage door is not in our budget so we will have to settle for painting it for now. Some brighter would look more crisp, fresh and clean imo.

amystroz--This is an excellent free tool from Benjamin Moore. Two pro painters I hired last year wouldn't use anything but, by the way. http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/for-your-home/personal-color-viewer

Robin, have you made a decision on paint? We just closed on ours and if the rain would ever let up then we could get a going with painters and landscaping. Would love to hear what you have decided! Good luck!