exterior paint help needed

last month

For some reason, in the area where we live, it is common to brick the front of a house and put siding everywhere else. It’s like a house mullet - don’t ask me why, and if I had built the house it would have been one or the other. But here we are. We are likely going to lime wash our brick front house to look more cohesive with the rest of the house. My question is, what color for the garage doors and front door/window frame? We have shutters as well which I’m debating whether they will go back up or not, and they can be painted any color. I’m not trying to turn this into a farmhouse so no stark black/white combos. Would painting the garage doors to match the rest of the color to blend in be a bad idea? Then popping the front door color? I also want to replace the front doors at some point but that won’t be soon as it’s more an aesthetic issue not a functional issue. The siding color is royal siding in sterling so kind of a muted white very very light grey. The landscaping will all be revamped once this is finished as well. Help!

Featured Answer

tozmo1

last month

This is a friend's recently sold house that started as a "mullet" house. Drove her crazy. BTW, the "why" is builder's cost, siding is cheaper than brick but brick says "higher end" i.e. champagne front, beer budget back. A lot of them around me.

Over many years she transformed it adding the porch roof and ironwork, major landscaping, but the first thing she did was paint it all one color, brick, siding, all one color. It's actually a very soft yellow, like butter. The color in the pic looks different on the siding vs. the brick but IRL it looks and is all one color. The black roof and many of the house features remind me of yours. Her garage doors are white because they were recently replaced and since she was selling, didn't want to spend the money to paint them but had she been staying, she said she would have painted them the same color of the house. Not a lot pretty about a plain garage door.

Here's where it started many years ago.

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Comments (10)

Lyn Nielson
last month
last modified: last month
I am wondering what the neighboring homes look like.

I wouldn't want to match what others are doing.

Although I am not a fan of lime washing brick and would opt for painting the adjacent siding instead, choose a color you love to paint the trims and garage door.

Farmhouse is pretty trendy, are you certain you wouldn't instead prefer something traditional?

I would just change up the trim and forget about matching to the other three sides.

a dark, urbane bronze, wrought iron, like this for a dramatic change, then colorful plantings like azaleas.
cat_ky
last month
I love the brick front, but, not so much the siding. I wouldnt lime wash the front, I would repaint the siding. Take a color off the brick, for the siding color. Its way to light for the house. Limewash wouldnt go with that siding either. It was a poor choice. The beige of the garage door doesnt go with the sides of the house. The sides of the house and garage doors should have been the same color. The white trim is fine, but, I would put a pop of some color, that is a favorite color to you, on the front door. No shutters. I am not in the no shutters crowd on this forum, but, with your house, you do not need them. You need some nice landscaping by your house too, to get much better curb appeal. I dont mind that the sides are not brick, and its common to have brick on the front of a house, but, someone didnt pick the right color siding, to go with the brick.
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elcieg
last month
last modified: last month
grapefruit1_ar
last month
I agree that professional landscaping would be a huge improvement. I would keep the brick as is, and decide on new door colors.

But the biggest change should be to your porch. It looks like the pored the slab and forgot to finish the rest of the porch. Of course your larger upper window will impact your options, but something can be added.
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PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
last month
last modified: last month
Here's your house lightened so we can actually see it.

Where's your landscaping? No chairs on the front stoop.

Here's how other homes, similar to yours in style, have handled paint colors.

You might consider British Racing Green
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RedRyder
last month
You have a classic traditional brick house that is lovely. If you must add something to the front, the black (or a soft black) shutters are the prettiest. (Check out dark navy blues too.)
It is unfortunate that many builders have decided that “brick-on- the-front-siding-on-the-sides” is a good look. It’s obviously a money saver, but I would just leave the siding alone. Spruce up the front landscaping as others have said and you will not think about the siding.

But if the siding still bugs you, plant fast growing flowering bushes (butterfly bushes are gorgeous) and that will make you smile.
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Sigrid
last month
I'd paint the siding a brown to be less of a contrast with the front. The gray is the cheap siding, why would you paint the brick to match the cheaper siding? I'd do the door in navy or a lighter blue. The garage door the same or black.

If you don't like the stark contrast between the brick and the gray, I'd plant a tree. Careful placement of an evergreen would hide the transition.
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PRO
Celery. Visualization, Rendering images
last month
Taupe would work great for siding.
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littlemissdena
last month
I too, like the brick. I would go dark for the trim, siding and doors. Charcoal.
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