It looks like you have already decided to paint the brick white. Are you looking for specific white paint color suggestions?

Another approach might be darker trim and a wood door. Or maybe a fun color for the door. I think I might do a purple door - would be a statement!

Or alternatively, keep the as-is brick plus the as-is white trim - and bring in a red door, to tie in with the red brick border/details.

Whatever you decide - imo, landscaping would make a big difference in the appearance of your place. Maybe try addressing that first - before you start messing with the brick.

Oh WOW I would pay a sand blaster to come get rid of the horrid paint. That brick was beautiful, timeless really. Then paint out all the trim and door dk brown--only because dark is in. Door could go red. The stairs are awful. Schmear them with cement.

I hope that the tan color is the current house and not white paint. At any rate, what your house needs is better landscaping. If the tan is the current color, paint the white object on the roof to match the roof and also paint the downspouts to match the brick.

Was it painted white and you had it sandblasted back to brick or ???? A little explanation would be helpful.

I think the brick is very nice and as Yvonne suggests landscaping would add a lot. Green plants will look beautiful against the brick. I, too, would paint the dormer to match the roof or the brick.

Sorry, thanks. The painted images are just renderings of what it would look like white. I just feel like the tan brick dates the house.

The painted brick thing will date the house... it has become an overdone caricature. Not to mention, you will ruin the brick. Also, your neighbors might have to put on sun glasses every time they look out their windows. It looks like you have a red brick house on at least one side of your house. What kind of neighborhood is this? Where is it? How many houses on your street are brick that has been painted white? Where I am from in NYC, painting brick is just not a go to thing to do.

The house is in Bergen County right outside of NY. The house is old and street is mainly McMansions with a few older home left. If I leave as is what color railings? Black?

I know those areas. I grew up and have spent most of my life in NYC and I am here now. But years ago, I lived right outside of Manhattan in NJ, on the Palisades; I lived there for over a decade - had a panoramic NYC view. Brick apt. building. Mostly were brick houses on the block.

You’re putting railings on the stairs - that’s good! Yes, black.

Landscaping would really be everything for your place. Would make a big difference. And another door or another color on the door.

Thanks. Palisades-beautiful!
I’m surprised at reactions to painting brick as I thought it’s been a popular trend.

I only show the strip of red bricks painted in black, a new front door, new railing, new sconce & house numbers, landscaping...

You’re welcome.

Yes, I really loved it there, on the cliffs. :)

Yes, the painting and whitewashing brick has been a popular trend. Too popular. Not only has it destroyed a lot of houses, but it has basically become a caricature at this point. But some people are still going to do it. Locale is important, though. In some areas, it’s more acceptable. Those areas of the country might not have a piece of unpainted brick left on any house, anywhere, and they are fine with it. But it is no longer really viewed as the chic thing to do, if it ever was.

Whew, when I saw those white painted things, I felt terribly sad that someone had ruined that beautiful house. Reading down, I see it was just a rendering. Please do not paint that beautiful brick. You talk about outdated, its not outdated, its an older house, that looks to be in very nice condition for its age. It needs landscaping badly, and those steps, are not all that great. They should be changed. They take away from the house itself. Definitely do some railings. I suggest black wrought iron railings on both sides of the porch.

Wow! Love it! The side of the house is red. It’s a mess really.

The steps are new. The contractor messed up and bought the wrong brick. How do I fix this. 😭

That is gorgeous brick house. I like the variation on the brick.

I would keep the red brick border on the front and you can still do a black door or dark wood door, with the black railings. Or alternatively, as I mentioned, I think a deep brick red door could be fabulous as well.

I like @lisedv ’s 2nd mockup.

A contractor bought the wrong brick? Which brick is wrong?

What are your thoughts on the awning and brick steps?

If he's the one who messed up I would have him do them over in what you had agreed on. Now that I see the side of the house has red bricks I would leave the brick stripes on the front of the house in red not paint them in black. So important to have all facts... What does your sidewalk look like? the little we see it seems a different colour from the new steps and the house colours.

Walkway are grey pavers. Also new and don’t match anything. I thought I was painting the house grey and the colors would match.

If you're redoing the brick steps, I would choose something in the beige tones to coordinate with the front of the house.

Are you keeping the steps?

If you had to paint anything, I would say paint the steps and pavers .

I saw the white painted brick mockups you have, but had no idea you were actually thinking of painting all the house brick grey.

The grey fad is over and that would be a disaster - even if it were not over, it would be a disaster. If it were siding that you were painting grey, maybe... depending on the house and locale. But not to paint an entire brick house grey.

Here’s a good article, for you to get a bit of a sense of what is going on, overall, with grey these days. When I tell you the grey fad is essentially over, I am really not making this stuff up.

https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/are-gray-paint-colours-still-trendy-cabinets-walls-exteriors/

And painted/whitewashed brick is also ”out”. And in some areas it was never ’in’.

The house would definitely benefit from landscaping, but also it looks like the front porch was enclosed. could you open it up again and get rid of the terrible glass block and the aluminum overhang?

One poster suggested sand blasting off the existing paint. Would definitely discourage that! Sandblasting will damage both brick and mortar and will enable water to penetrate the brick veneer. If the house is already painted it would need to remain painted for its lifetime.

The charm of an older home can be that it IS outdated and doesn't look like every other house as many do today. I like the brick but also like Lisedv's rendition with the brick painted white and the black trim. It would go better with your new porch and walkway and also improved when you add landscaping. It's a nice looking house!

@lisedv could you show the brick color with dark windows and trim, maybe the dark stripe color or black?

I dont mind the red brick on the sides of the house. If you leave the red on the front, it all blends together. However, I would do something with that foundation. That could be painted a solid color, it is not a good look. I would also get good quality paint, and if you have to keep the steps and sidewalk, then paint them a color that actually goes with the house. Gray doesnt go with anything. Definitely repaint that door too. Leave all the red brick, and paint the foundation black. Your choice of color (pick your favorite) on the door. I would want a storm door installed too. Storm doors protect the house doors, and keeps them nicer longer. If you want door color to show through, pick a full view type storm door.

Do you mean the blue stone foundation as well as tan brick in the front? What color?

A lot of good points, cat_ky . I agree about painting the steps and maybe the pavers/walk, also - if they have to stay; I mentioned that upthread.

I wouldn’t paint the brick foundation, though. The house has survived in tact all these years, and I would not touch any of the brick on the house. The right landscaping will obscure and cover the foundation on the front of the house. And it’s also better to leave the brick foundation as-is everywhere else. The house already has the two different brick tones, plus stone on the red brick foundation part; so I wouldn’t add painted black brick, etc., to the equation . And again, I’d just in general leave the house brick alone.

Landscaping is really the answer to the foundation appearance, as well as to the appearance of the house overall.

Plus, of course the house could use a better awning.

Paint steps a color to match the tan? Something neutral?

Yes.

I only mean the foundation, that shows on the picture of the side of the house. It is a mish mash of something, that doesnt look good with either the light brick, or the red brick. The front is the light brick, I would not paint that.

Oh, I understand, cat_ky. You are talking about the side of the house. That is stone on the foundation over there.

If you look closely at the pic, you will notice that the stone and mortar does have colors that connect with the light brick. If the stone were painted black - it would basically just connect to (and fade into) the dark pavement. That would break up the appearance of the red brick section and would also really split the house, imo - plus, then you would have painted stone. To tell you the truth, I didn't notice the stone as being a problem; it looks fine to me. And, in any case, I doubt anyone will really be staring at the back side of the house. I think that might be a driveway or part of a yard area on that side. In any case, I would not paint the stone foundation area, either.

If you decide to change the steps, I might just paint or stain the risers (and the sides of the porch) a beige color. Those are what show the most and will blend with the current brick color. I would leave the walkway gray....even though it shows, walkways and driveways are often concrete (gray) regardless of the color of the house. Changing just the risers will also mean less worry about wear and tear on walking surfaces. A colorful front door will also detract from the gray.

Thanks-what colors do you suggest?

For front door?

Let's take a step back...when was your house built? I'm guessing 1930's. The two color brick is an architectural intention. It was very popular in the 1930s. Yours doesn't have as much detail as these but the style of your house isn't bungalow so your brickwork fits with your house's style.

The glass block was all the rage in the 1930s and 40s after " Owens-Illinois Glass Company first introduced their glass block to the American public in 1933 at the Chicago Century of Progress Exhibition." Here's a house in Illinois that has your brick and glass block at the basement windows probably added after the house was built and one that was playing on 1940s Art Deco. It was popular to do.

Here's a schematic of Art Deco and Moderne characteristics from the City of Cincinnati.

https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/buildings/historic-conservation-old/major-architectural-styles/art-deco-moderne-1930-to-1950/

I would lean into all those details of your house. Look at old tax records that have photos of houses in your county. You may see what was added or removed from your house over the years to inspire you.

The awning is probably not original but hard to tell without seeing it IRL. Is it all aluminum or is there glass on it? Either way, it sort of detracts from the other details. I think something like these would be cool.

Here's a more current version of the concept.

That's a long way to say, your house has a lot of architectural details that are representative of the time your house was built or changed. I don't know how much you want to lean into that, but the Bergen County Historical Society https://www.bergencountyhistory.org/ could probably direct you resources to find photos of your house over the years and other examples of the architecture of your house that have have been updated.

Don't start painting the steps until you have a plan. I think they can be made to work as is with landscaping, removing the awning and if the budget allows, replacing the windows and front door to something more architecturally appropriate. If not in the budget, then paint the trim to make them work with not pop out of the house. On color visualizer tools, play with leaning into the a red color that matches the brick.

Research Art Deco and Moderne architecture to see what people have done with houses of your style.

Oh, don't paint that brick -- it's very attractive. I like the red brick accent strip on the front, I think it adds interest and ties in with the side of the house. The red brick on the side wouldn't be my choice, but it's not bad, the color coordinates with the front of the house, and it certainly is by far better than fake-looking white painted brick.

What does not look good with the house is the porch and paver walkway, the blue-ish colors of that don't work at all with the house. Go with warm tones to tie everything together, that change will look good.

Is your window trim paintable? Or are you stuck with white trim? I would paint the brick, because your different brick colors just don’t work. Nothing historical or attractive about your brick, so go ahead and paint! You have no room for shutters, but a contrasting dark door with matching dark color on window boxes under the first floor windows would help balance the front.

Let's lean into its original roots. Paint the trim the color of red brick and the dormer the color of the yellow brick, paint the door the color of the yellow brick, maybe a shade darker. Now the steps work just fine for me. Gutters dark brown to blend with roof or if the roof is black, a darker, maybe brownish tone of the red. Remove awing. The pavers a still a little too blue but maybe they'll get dirty and sort of fade into the background. Or, consider edging them with the red brick.

Tozmo1 - Thanks I like the concept but it’s a bit too much red for me. Do you think painting it dark brown work? What if we did the front in stucco?

Here's with brown. I like it. Don't know about stucco over brick. You'd have to ask a professional if that is a good idea. Certainly that age house had stucco, you see it a lot in California.

Thanks! Would you have a professional you can recommend?

With black door and black windows

Why not just do a red door and a different awning? I’ve already suggested a red door a number of times, as being a possibility.

You are not in California, and Stucco is not going to improve this house.

You have a classic brick house. Nothing that you are planning to do is going to be an improvement on the overall style of this vintage house... And with all due respect: it is clear that you do not know what you have - and it is also clear that you do not know what you are doing. Case in point: you were planning to paint this classic brick house grey. And the new steps and pavers that you’ve brought in are no where near the quality of the existing brick that is on this house. Plus, of course they do not go with the house, colorwise - since your plan was to paint the entire house grey, or white - or whatever.

When I first saw the house, I too thought about a red color for the trim; but I figured you would not be interested in that, based upon the mock-ups you showed. So I presented other options; and there is no reason that you need to do red trim on the house, or dark trim on the house, to make it work. But these are all obviously options. I‘ve already mentioned a number of these options upthread - including the option of simply bringing in a red door with what you currently have. Or a black door. Or a wood door. Get a new awning. And main focus should be landscaping.

Stucco success is very specific to your geographical location and I'm not in your area although my cousin used to live in North Bergin, lol. Been there many times when I lived in Delaware.

But back to your question. If you really want to explore stucco, google your area and then review the contractors for stucco specifically e.g. these folks

https://www.brooklynnystucco.com/. It's interesting that many of the houses on their website share many of the characteristics of your house, so stucco may not be bad idea at all. Explore before you make decisions.

Lots of people may say they do stucco but stucco can easily go wrong. You want someone who knows what they're doing. Your area and into NY should have folks who have done stucco and remediated bad stucco jobs so they know what they are up against in a remodel. It may not even be possible over brick, you may need to pull it down. That will mean a big budget, but, it's your house, make it what you want.

I'm big on preserving original architecture but my thing may not be your thing. Come to houzz for ideas but in the end, it's your house.

It's a lovely home, all the best to you.

Your home is charming, and will be even more charming if you choose to lean into and preserve the historic style it was blessed with when it was originally built. The natural brick you have now is really great (I love the red on the side of the house), and retaining it will save you thousands on future maintenance, ie once you paint it, you’ll have to keep painting it…especially with white- it’ll look dirty and dingy before long. So please don’t paint it! I love the dark brown trim as shown above. The gray pavers weren’t the best idea, in terms of color and style, so lining them with brick is a good idea. Work on the landscaping; stair railing, new awning. Going forward, make a cohesive plan for all you want to do before you start.