I'd like to see the front of the house, too.

I don't see awful, I dunno ,can you stain brick? Lets hope someone comes along with answers.

I think the brick is fine. I will agree the bush does nothing for it. I would landscape that side to distract your eye. What about the front and what zone are you in.

Some attractive landscaping, including a few trees and flowering shrubs in natural shapes will do wonders for your house. Get than mile-long snake of aqua hose out of there! Install a sprinkler system to properly irrigate your new landscape. Mulch the planting beds for weed control after the planting is done. If your landscape is well done, nobody but you will look at the brick. In a year, after the new plants have filled in and flowered, THEN you may consider having the brick stained, whitewashed, schmeared or painted. It may no longer need it.

Agree with posters the brick doesn't seem to be the problem here. Hard to tell with this picture, but I think I'm not liking the brown on the house. A good landscape designer could do wonders. Starting with removing that bush.

A hip roofed ranch isn't a Colonial or a McMansion. Don’t try to turn it into a sad depressing grayed out “updates” one of those either. That fad is over and done.

Look at accenting the positives. The warm earth tones and horizontal lines of a mid century structure are positives to work with, not against. Adding other colors from nature with landscaping does any home good.

Thanks for the brutally honest feedback, lol! Yes that bush is ugly as sin and coming out. Here’s the front view before and after removing other ugly bushes. I think the roof color isn’t helping either. I drew up a version with a darker roof and it actually made the brick look better.

Meggie,,,Romabio is made for masonry with no added maintenance.

they have diff colors and types of 'paint' for the brick.

paint it! The brick isn't anything special.

before/after

of course landscaping is the 2nd part of your equation.

Back

Okay, here's something you don't want to hear. There's not enough brick on that house to make a difference in the appearance. Because that house is mostly roof!!!

The only dominant finish on the house is asphalt shingle. The bricks are completely immaterial.

Are you planning to reroof? If so, spend a bit extra for interesting shingles that give some texture to that parking lot that sits atop your home. You need architectural shingles--something that looks interesting and like you paid attention to that detail. What's there now is a step up from standard, but it's still too uniform.

Then--plant trees. Lots of trees. You need something to block the view of that roof, or at least distract from it. You've got a few, but they are off to the sides.

I agree with Maggie that the high contrast brick is pretty homely. The light patches make it look a bit scabrous. I am not a fan of limewash on a rancher with the style of this one; I would look into whether staining would work on your brick. I think darker will work better than white. Landscaping will help regardless.

there is always paint. you don't have to use the lime wash. they have masonry paint that allows the brick to breathe. you can get it tinted to any color. Upkeep would be no more than a regular painted home. (some people have had their brick painted for over 20 years w/no issues or upkeep)

Sorry to disagree but here goes. I’ve seen painted brick and I know designers love it. As soon as I see it on a house that is for sale I skip it. They all say it will last but it’s a beast to paint and personally I have better things to do in the spring or summer. Still think landscaping will improve it. Unless your roof is due for replacing I would leave it, it looks fine. Remember venison plaster. Are you scared yet lol?

Meggie Have you considered painting your eavestroughs a lighter color. It will make your roof less overpowering. also downspouts. (They are too prominent, they should blend with brick.)

This trick of lightening the eaves will bring the eye up.

You might think about painting the dormer trim to match the lighter color in the brick.

White with your brick doesn't add anything to the charm. The white soffit also would be better painted to match lighter brick. Don't think your roof color is an issue. just my thoughts

Have you considered a pop of color on your front door. It is hiding.

I am picky about brick, so when I look at a house, the brick is the first thing I notice. Ugly brick can take a normal house and make it the ugly duckling. Yours isn’t quite that bad, but it isn’t pretty. I say paint it. You’ll feel much better.

Meggie, From what I can see, You might also consider beefing up the trim around front door. Your lovely home needs a more

important entrance. Color and added trim will accomplish this. No need to paint the brick. I happen to enjoy this style home much more than a cookie cutter home! Please enjoy it's uniqueness and work with it. Don't try to make it something it is not. enjoy it.

First, consider painting your rear white door a pop of color. What color might you be drawn to?, we could suggest paint colors from your idea. If you love that, then add flowers and cushions to your rear yard that match the door. Make your house sing and you will love it.

It is really the roof color and the landscaping that are bad. You seem to know that. Often houses only have brick on the front in which case I would say paint. Your house is all brick and the body is maintenance free. I would not change that.

Fix the landscaping. Remove the shutters from the double window in front. Paint the other shutters a bit softer color. Paint the garage doors a bit lighter. Bide your time until the roof needs replacing.

I lack your photoshop skill but I tried to make a few changes.

I have seen articles about staining brick, where individual bricks are stained. Not a paint over everything. I would stain the light bricks only, to a dark color similar to or darker than the darkest brown you have. It would eliminate the speckled appearance.

Stain is what the OP stated, not paint. There's a huge difference.

This house below is a lot like yours and look how much better it can look with the stained brick.

Only stopping to say: when you say you’re removing that bush, I hope you mean actually removing it. Don’t try to give one of those a haircut! I have one in my yard that sits in front of a transformer box but was overgrown and hanging over the driveway when we moved in - I completely massacred the thing. You get overzealous and think “ohhh just a little more here, here, and oh here too“ - step back to admire your work and see Mugatu staring back at you.

Beverly I was grouping them all together. my thought is to leave the Brick alone. There are lots of ways to work with this lovely home and take your eye away from the brick. .. Sure you can mess with the brick, but why? There are so many other things that will work. btw the posters name is Meggie. Just my thoughts.

Maggie, I like the mock up you did with the dark roof.

I don't think the roof color is the problem, as much as it is the dark dull brown stain on the siding, trim and shutters. The whole look overall could stand lightening up.

If you are inclined to try a step before altering the brick, or replacing the roof (and when you do that, agree with architectural shingles -- it is a lot of roof. Making it darker will make it more prominent BTW) -- try a lighter color compatible with the lighter bricks.

I agree with some others about the shrub. It’s not pretty.
As for the brick, can you post a pic of the whole house?
I agree with you about the brick. It’s too busy.

As far as your shrubs, they are yews. The good thing about them is that you can cut them back right to bare brown stems, and they will shoot out stems and fill in. Other shrubs will not do that. Instead of ripping them out and replanting, it's possible that they could be the basis of a new landscape scheme, and provide some large components right from day one. My parents had a huge overgrown yew the same flat shape as yours, that they cut back to a smaller cone shape with a rounded top, which they then let grow to a more shaggy shape (not sheared smooth). It looked good in a few months. Many landscapers in my neighborhood have done the same with overgrown yews, turning a solid square hedge into a row of these.

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/trim-pyramidal-yew-trees-32915.html

Proportionately, the roof takes up most of the visual space, so just staining the brick isn't go to change things much. What would take the focus off the brick you dislike is a major redesign of the landscaping. Hire a landscape designer to "reframe" your house with trees, perennials, flowering shrubs, hardscaping, ornamental grasses. See how these front gardens pull the eye forward. Emmerene's photo of your house is a good place to start, but the beds could be even deeper, or you could have several separate garden beds.

Consider repainting your trim to something darker. The current white trim offers too much contrast with the brick, so it stands out even more. Notice how darker trim colors harmonize with the brick in these examples: