I love the dark gray too!

Why black roof? Black attract the sun and makes the house hotter. The dark gray is attractive

I would go with a medium gray siding. Remove the shutters and paint the door and storm door one color.

remove your shutters and paint your railings black.. iron should look like iron, it will make a nice visual impact. As for the siding, I would do vertical board and baton, the width makes the house look stout, vertical boards would carry the eye up and make the house look a wee bit taller maybe!

I agree with the board and baton look. It will give your house a taller look. I would also change the eave-troughs color to match the side siding.

I agree with all above. The gray compliments the brick beautifully. Medium gray siding, all trims, gutter, drain pipe, and the iron railing on the stairs. Remove the shutters and paint the front door and storm door - how about chartreuse green or black. Add an attractive black lantern to the right of the door with a black square wood planter and boxwood. Consider eliminating that heavy clipped hedge under the window and going for a less rigid planting.

Ivory might be a good color for the siding and the new door. I would not advise a black roof as it can make your home very hot in the summer. As a result, I would suggest a silver grey that will be cooler and will look contemporary with the suggested ivory siding and door.

If you go silver gray (certainteed's silver birch), be aware that there is a lot of green in it. I like the color, but we replaced the roof two years ago and when we went to replace the siding last year, the best color was ivy green by certainteed because of the undertones. Look at a house done recently in whatever color you pick and if you can't do that see a current sample in a supply store with a sample of siding next to it.

A black roof eliminates that color matching problem. Maybe Andrew lives in a colder climate?

Blue-Gray board n batten and all trim ;black door, rail and gutters - down spouts, and a "red" roofing choice.

Looks like there is some green in the brick. Maybe a darker sage green for the siding. Remember the darker you go the more it will fade also.

Alternate suggestions: need you replace the siding? It can be painted, if you use a special siding formula that some paint stores offer. Have you looked to see what's under it - could you just go back to wood planks? When I removed the white vinyl siding off my 1920s Tudor, the original boards were underneath. We just had them sanded and painted. Just some thoughts.

I too wanted a Black Roof. I did Hv one installed. It does make your home hotter!!! I also, had new gutters put in as well. As it rained and snowed the dye from the Black Roof over time STAINED The Gutters. The Black roof will NOT be as Black as you first started out with in a couple of years. IJS

A home of years past that I use to live in, where I had a Black Roof installed with gutters. I know it's not a great pic but maybe you can see where the ROOF turned into a Charcoal color! However, it started of as Very Black! It Stained a lot of things. It cost a Total of $5000.00 if that was something you may have wanted to know. I've since moved on from this home several years ago. Just wanted to show the roof pic if that helps ya. ~Jan

I always think gray looks good with red brick. And I would go with a dark gray roof instead of black.

Dark gray would look nice. Can you photoshop some different colors?

I would leave the siding white and whitewash the brick. Remove the shutters and replace the windows with clear glass in the middle and full mullions along the sides of the windows. A new dark grey asphalt roof and a paint grade wood door painted in a bright hue will be beautiful.

A door with mullioned glass similar to this.

sage green with red brick. awesome.

If you use sage green certainteed siding, it goes perfectly with their driftwood roof shingles. (Garage roof not done yet)

definitely go with a charcoal gray.....

Siding? Why? Paint your brick. Hire an architect and create a more contemporary exterior.

Remember painting brick is a great option. Check out some of the houses done on Fixer Upper on HGTV. They have been beautiful. Then you could change the color of the trim around the windows to complement. Maybe no shutters though. They are too narrow and just get lost. What are popular house colors in your area? You can use that as a guide or go your own path, but I think a black roof is way too stark.

Try cedar shakes. Don't paint the brick...just creates more maintenance.

dark gray hardiboard slats and a burnt red front door or the green you see above. Add a trellis over the front door with a nice fat post at the corner of the top step. Paint your railings black.

Don't paint or add siding on the brick... Please! It's impossible to remove paint off brick. Brick is timeless. Plenty of new personality can be found in changing existing siding. Shaker shingles by hardi board... Landscaping, new door, added trim work around windows, etc. use the color palate you have on hand (the natural green in the brick could stand out gorgeous if the right color was used on siding and trim)

I think this direction would best suit the house: First remove the hedges and big bushes completely. Remove the shutters and awnings . I would recommend leaving the white siding, then hire someone or DYI liming or painting of the brick, paint the door and railings same color - all white. The door could be dark red or black for a punch of color. Replace the front door with a nice single wooden French door. (like the photo)

When the roof needs replacing consider a silver/grey metal roof. (like photo)

replant some small boxwoods or something that will not overgrow and chop the height of the house as the hedges do now. If you can afford to replace the front windows to wooden ones, then do so.

Please leave the brick as brick. Anything painted inevitably needs repainting and as it gets that way it looks awful. If you cover it with something that requires maintenance the way brick does not, you're taking one step forward and (over the long term) two steps back. If the brick appears to need an uplift, you could pressure wash it before you do any painting on any part of the exterior of your home before deciding on your color choices.

Whatever you decide to do with the roof and exterior of your home, please consider extending the roofline for more of an overhang the entire length of the front of your house -- about 16" on the left section and then another 16" across both the middle section all the way to the right end of the house over the door stoop. You'd need to add a post on that corner but that's a decorating opportunity. An extended roofline will better protect the wood of your windows and doors and you will be replacing part of the shade the awnings have been providing during the middle of the day that was protecting the wood of the windows.

Have you considered a "tin" roof? The modern metal roofs come in a variety of colors and will last as long as shingles (with warranty) and keep their color better than any black shingle roof (which will fade unevenly to grey). At least check out what is available before settling on shingles. Along with extending the overhang of the front of the roof all the way across the front of the house may well get you all the color and curb appeal you need without any other major and costly updates to the exterior of the house that way aside from any changes to the door you've already planned.

As to the siding above the brick, with the right paint, it can be painted, but consider painting white over the white. You could still paint only the trim board above it at the roofline to add the same color there as with the shutters and door but if you remove all the white elsewhere, you'll need to paint your gutter and downspouts as well. In fact, consider painting your shutters white as well unless you opt to match your new roof color If your shutters are the same color as your window frames they'll look a bit less narrow.

The white gable siding provides a strong contrast against the darker brick and tends to visually cut the house in half, horizontally. To tie the gable back to the rest of the house, a mid tone color, perhaps selected from one of the greyish-brown darker tones of the bricks, then lightened up a touch, would reconnect the parts. You could then leave the eaves, fascias and windows white if you wished (or paint them all same as the gable siding) for a bit of contrast on these linear trim elements. The entry door is certainly an opportunity for a pop of color. The brighter yellow greens that some have suggested could be effective, as green is the complementary color of red and has the most heightened contrast possible. Black ironwork is always sophisticated. An architectural shingle in a weathered wood color would tie well to the color variegation of the brick and could connect with its darker tones.

Certainly, a looser arrangement of shrubbery, of lower stature, would allow the house to breathe a bit easier. The big yew hedge seems overscaled for the space.

Some very good comments. Lose the awnings. The shutters are out of proportion to the windows, too small & sit too high up. The white front door looks out of place, because it is white.

This is where this comment differs from the others.

First step would be to go to a paint store and pick out colors that you think are found in the brick, pressure wash first for better results in matching. Take your 'horde' of chips home (get plenty of different color chips). And likewise some for the trim. Then on a sunny day take chips outside and try your matching in a shady place. The direct sun distorts the colors. (Not that you can't see what it looks like in the sun). Pick out the colors that come closest to the brick. You will have plenty of choices because the brick has many colors. Don't make your decision right away. As they say 'sleep on it'. Set aside the chips that you like.

Next get sample of different roof colors, bring home and see what matches the brick. The try to match color of roof to the chips. You can go darker, staying in the same color range.

The following depends on how much you can afford:

The roof; a color that comes close to the brick. There are multi-blended colors available.

The white portion: Cover with wood shingles (shakes) that are stained close to brick & roof color.

Shutters: If still wanted could be made to match the wood shingles (shake) above. Stain with a different color than the above shakes.

Window trim: A shade darker or lighter than the shakes (shutters).

Front door: Don't use the white storm door unless you can paint it the trim color or to match the door you are going to buy. If you are buying a pre-finished door be sure to take your chosen colors in so the door can harmonize with the rest of the other color choices.

Paint the concrete porch and steps in a very dark color, darkest color in the brick.

Railing: Paint them the color of the front door. Nice lead in to the front door.

So to sum it up:

Roofing color: best match to brick and on the darker side (not black) multi-blended colors.

Wood shakes upper: stain as close as you can to your favorite color from the brick.

Trim: Gutters, windows, frame around door. . .a complimentary color to the brick. Like a soft golden yellow, lighter in color, like a stick of butter, not to yellow.

Shake shutters: Stain them in a very light shade of the same as above. Or pick a darker color from the brick that you like.

The door and railings: Depends on how brave you are. . .dark golden or shade of red that compliments the brick.

Be sure to keep your color chips they are your best friend! Make a color board with 3 distinct choices in different ranges of color choices for each of the above items. It helps in making a decision. Keep this board handy when you are shopping. By the way this is not really piece of wood, it can be paper that you have glue the choices onto.

Have friends tell you which one they like out of the three and see how many can guess the one you chose.

Also if you have a 'Metro Paint' site in your area check out their prices on 'remixed paint'. I just paid $21 dollars for two gallons yesterday. Yes they don't have a great selection of colors. But to get what I want I'll test mix until I come up with the color I desire. One more suggestion. Go to a craft store and pick out your desired colors, paint each color on a piece of paper, make it a nice size. When dry tape it to your brick and see if you can live with the color you like best. Also you can go on line to look at color chips but most monitors don't give the true color.

Have fun and enjoy!

Forgot one thing that is important paint your downspouts the color closest to the brick color. The white ones on your house now make it seem chopped up. And there really isn't any reason why these should stand out.

I agree with bj to match the colors in the brick. I went through a similar process in matching the colors in a brick, shingle samples and paint. I ended up with grey tones not from matching the brick, but from matching the grout. I am also a fan of pressure washing the brick and keeping that maintenance free finish.

I went with thick grey architectural shingles recommended by insurance companies. The shadow lines of the shingles transformed the look and feel of our 1970's ranch-style home.

I also agree with the suggestion that the wrought iron be painted black.