Do I paint my brick to update as a couple of houses in my area (circa 1981) earthtone colors in the neighborhood like the ones below? I am aftaid of permanently painting exterior bricks.

I wouldn’t paint the brick, either.

I think you could come up with a better front door color, but before I suggest a color…why are you windows showing green?

Natural brick is a maintenance-free material. I would not paint exterior brick unless it was Gawdawful ugly. Yours is lovely. Leave it alone.

I would not paint the brick. I'd get rid of whatever the green is in the windows and then paint all of the trim more of a beige/tan to blend in with the brick. The white is too stark of a contrast. Then paint or replace the front door with something more eye-catching.

Ditto. Your brick is beautiful. I would paint the white areas darker and fix the green windows.. What color is your roof, and what colors are in your brick?

Honestly, I think your brick color is way more attractive than the neighbors - its very nicely variegated with the different shades. Painted brick can look blah and lifeless.

I really like the kind of retro look of the brown trim with the brick but it looks like they had brown roof to kind of tie it all together. If you want to keep it simple just pick out a darker beigey-greigy from your brick color - not as gray as the roof but maybe leaning in that direction. Agree with above poster that the white is too stark.

The windows aren’t green. Maybe it was the overcast weather casting a shadow. They are replacement windows.

I wouldn’t paint.....I would do some beautiful landscaping!

Don't paint the brick. The benefit of brick is that it is maintenance free for decades, perhaps requiring tuckpointing at the 50 to 60 year mark and not even that if your area has little to no freeze/thaw cycles.

There were some pretty bad brick colors, mainly in the 70's, but what you have is beautiful. You even have the benefit (if we want to call it that) of having large paint-able areas that give you the opportunity for change or to freshen things up without touching the brick. Take advantage of that.

Another thought. Change your door to a lighter color. Add a wider grey/slate path, then some taller shrubs on the left side of the house.

I love painted brick but would not recommend you paint your b/c it is pretty. I would paint trim charcoal and paint Door light blue (if you favor cool colors) or a tone of peach if you favor warm colors.