Desperately seeking exterior paint help!

11 years ago

I'm going to be painting the exterior shingle of my house soon and I really need to figure out what goes best with this crazy red brick. I'm so overwhelmed! We're looking for an all over color scheme (body, trim, shutters, door) but we really love the black shutters and door. We're leaning toward something like a warm gray (greige?) I think because the brick is dark, we could go with a medium color. I'm thinking Mega Greige or Functional Greige from SW or Stone Harbor or Raccoon Hollow from BM. Any trim suggestions are welcome. We don't want anything too cool in the gray family and nothing too brown or taupe. We would like to paint the garage black too and add a garage arbor. Window boxes will also be put in on the bottom windows. Finally, I need to get the house numbers in another location. I hate them on the top of the portico. Any help updating this boring home would be really appreciated. Here is our house:

Our inspiration pics:

My favorite! But I think this is too cool for the dark red brick. It's BM graystone and silverchain trim.

I believe this one is BM's raccoon hollow. Too brown?

And I'm not sure if this is too light. I wish I could find out what color it is!

I also like anonymous although that seems rather brown as well:

And finally, if I were to get rid of the black door, I would keep it very dark, but go for a deep purple like this:

Thanks for taking the time. Please please please comment! I'd love to hear your opinions!

Danielle

Featured Answer

er612

11 years ago

Functional gray will look great! Make sure you try the colors on your house before committing (preferably a 24hr period). Grays especially look completely different in different light. I think the white trim is equally important on a house like yours. That said, here are additional trim options:

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Comments (11)

Krysta Smith
11 years ago
functional grey is my FAVORITE color! our entire interior (except kids roons) will be that color
er612
11 years ago
I LOVE your first inspiration pic. It will look great with the red brick. I like the black door but would consider removing the shutters.
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er612
11 years ago
Never mind about the shutters. I like yours (had to enlarge the pic to see).
er612
11 years ago
If you frame out the columns so they're square, you could put the house number on a column.
dlchevy24
Original Author
11 years ago
I love image1. Thanks! I think the shutters are original to the house. They are solid wood with crescent moon cutouts. We love them so I'm glad you like them too. I love functional gray! I'm going to get some samples this weekend. Thanks everyone.
dlchevy24
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you!
Judy Amato_Ramella
11 years ago
go with the grey if you love it!!! I think it looks great. you can always paint the brick!!!
PRO
Colorsmith
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
For the shingle colors, I would look at Cabots semi-solid stains. Their colors (esp the neutrals) are just great for shingles-they can be matched w/paint if you prefer, but the stain actually lasts longer. Because everyone's house looks different in the real-non-computer-generated-world, make sure you paint samples of the colors actually on your house! Also-the deeper you go on the body, make sure you then tone down the white for the trim. The shutters look like they could benefit from being re-hung. I love the "almost black" colors for details such as doors and shutters-look at "Railings" from Farrow and Ball or "Greenblack" from SW, but invariably, the actual metal details such as your hand rails-look best in classic full gloss black.
dlchevy24
Original Author
10 years ago
Just an update. We are going with Revere HarborPointe shakes in wicker. When we got the quotes for painting, we realized that we would be making a better investment with the vinyl shake. We love how warm the wicker color looks with the brick and black shutters. We will be keeping the trim white, and the corners will be white as well. It will be shake around the entire house, except around the 1st floor den which will be board and batten as it is now. I'll be adding black window boxes to the first floor, a garage arbor and a new light over the garage door as well. I'll post picks as soon as it's done next month.
libradesigneye
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Vinyl siding nearly always devalues a home. If you haven't leapt, think again. It is toxic in a fire and you should never have corners contrast on a home that is brick first floor like this. Sorry to burst your bubble, but ask realtors in your area before you save a little and give away a lot. The painters, if they are charging you, are preparing your siding to last another dozen years. If you think you will potentially sell the house in that time period, do not, i repeat, do not go vinyl.