No to painting the brick. Instead, check local suppliers for a match and see what it would cost to replace the vinyl with brick.

Since you are reroofing, consider rebuilding the roof to create a covered porch.

Choose a darker shingle -- charcoal or maybe a dark gray.

Gutters stay white, downspouts should match the brick, or the surface behind them so they blend in.

Work on landscaping.

No need to introduce stone.

Thank you! That's an interesting suggestion to change the roof over the kitchen bump-out to extend over the eventual new porch.

I I agree to redo the roof to provide a much nicer cover at the stoop . I never think painting brick is a good idea IMO it instantly devalues your home . A nice color that works well with thr brick for the left side could even be a dark gray depending on a better close up of the brick to figure out color .

I wonder if something like this would work for you. Stain/paint the new porch and steps and match the parts of the house on the left.

This color and design is...? TBD. I don't have software....just a concept sketch.

Thank you!

You could add wood around the big window instead of painting the stucco.

NO!

@tracefloyd- I'd really like to do that (add wood around
that window) but my husband is pretty firmly opposed because he is concerned about trapping moisture and then rot. But I love the idea of the wood trim.

And so far it is five zero against painting brick!

It does not take a freeze for trapped moisture to damage the mortar and cause failure of the brick so make sure it is properly primed and sealed.

https://www.marthastewart.com/how-to-paint-a-brick-house-7486559

I will read it, thanks!

I also say dont paint the brick. Put siding on the addition, that can be painted the color of the brick, or try to match the brick, and reside with brick instead of regular type siding. Your brick is very nice.

It's not my house, but if it were, I would not paint the brick.

Congrats on paying it off. I see no real reason to paint the brick. The current color will be a nice backdrop to your new landscaping.

No. Painting. The. Brick.

I was thinking the same as Sigrid - extending the roof at the front over the entryway. That should give you a better composition overall.

I am not in the camp of being against recoloring the brick.

Just know that if you do you NEVER USE EXTERIOR ACRYLIC PAINT because your brick with crumble.

You can limewash brick or use masorny paint. Sometimes it's the right thing for a mousy little house to pull it together.

Those images are pretty persuasive!

A lone voice for painting! That's the draw of the paint, though. The tidiness of it. 💜 Although here in Greenville we sit in red clay so that does splash up a bit.

As suggested by others, I would paint the add-on section siding the same colour as the bricks as well as the gutters downspouts. I'm showing a black roof with a widened section at the front to cover the porch. Also showing the modified porch I suggested in your post from yesterday where you'd be able to show columns if you modify the roof to cover the porch.

Consider all the 'updating' as one plan. Does it all fit together? The stoop changes, roof changes, and color changes all have to work together at the end. And all too often, AI renderings lie, so they can't be depended on.

The biggest issue I see with the house, is that the front door is hidden by the protruding wing from the driveway. That type of thing can often be helped with landscaping, including walkway planning. Redoing the stoop isn't going to help that unless the stoop becomes disproportionally enormous. I'm also not convinced extending the roof over the stoop is going to work because of the differing roof planes.

For reasons I can't begin to understand, houses with both brick and siding all too often are done with a color of siding that has absolutely nothing to do with the color of the brick. The usual solution is to paint the brick and the siding so they 'match'. However, they won't match. Since they have different textures, the play of light and shadows will differ, making the same color appear different. The goal should not be to make the siding look like the brick, but to make the two materials complement each other.

This strikes me very much as a situation where a lot of $$$$ can be spent on changes that don't move the needle in an attempt to bring the house into the 2010's.

..."into the 2010's". Good point. It is worth thinking about keeping the integrity of quirky retro architecture and play up a perceived drawback. Here is only red and blue paint and a blue new roof and front walk.

According to your other post about the porch, ditch your screen door since the front door swings inward for easy access.

We installed a screen at our front door that retracts to one side like a roller blind and works great.

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO never ever paint brick. Brings your home's value down everytime!

All so helpful and many thanks to @lisedv for further renderings! Great inputs on painting siding to match brick, and the ins and outs of that. You know, I definitely don't want to spend a whole bunch of money bringing the house into the 2010s, and I see that that is a danger. That's why I'm hesitant about painting the brick, because I do want to respect my little house and its humble origins. I want to pull the vinyl off because I would like to replace it with something that has more integrity, though my husband points out that then we're just putting a bunch of plastic into the landfill, which is of course true. And I want the new stoop/porch structure to make the house feel more open and welcoming, and also safer, because right now it's too small and the platform is not particularly safe in that way. I don't want to tart my house up, if you will, but rather to respect it, enhance it. This house is a lot like me, a little bit old, a little bit battered, but solid. 🙃

I commented on your stoop dilemma. I moved from a 1949 wire cut brick Cape Cod in upstate NY 13 years ago. I don't think I could have ever painted the brick. I like the idea of painting the siding to match the brick and extending the roof line over the front stoop so you can eliminate the awning. If at some point you really decide you want to paint it, definitely look into Romabio. It's meant to be painted over brick and will keep your brick from degrading.

When you paint or stain anything, you have to use the right product. As Beverly explained, there are finishes made for brick.

I agree that the house would look better with the same colour all across. The advantage of using white is that the window size mis-matches would blend in. At present, the white window frames pop against the dark brick. The gable point should not be a different colour. No shutters.

Downspout colour should match the wall so you don't get a stripe effect.

Add mulch to prevent soil splashing up. To avoid insect problems, use the right kind and apply correctly. link

Remove the tree, and remove the large shrub to the left of the doorway to open up the area visually. Add taller shrubs in between the window areas, and prune the shrubs under windows so they are low.

Love lisedv's rendering with stoop in white, along with the end of the house in a red similar to the brick, I feel it makes the house look classy as well as maintaining it's orginal origins. The white stoop seems to me to balance things out.

Work with the brick. There are great photos from @lisedv that show how to enhance its current features.

Late in: consider all white for the body of the house, then it becomes "one". Paint the window trim black, as well as any muntins.

Landscaping a must and you need a walk to the front door.

first i'd invest the money in a professional landscape redo, a new front door, and possibly building out the front porch over to the right w/a nice overhang.

removing all those shrubs, putting in a walkway, some design, maybe a new driveway, will do 90% more than 'painting" the brick. (which btw, you'll want to use Romabio. not an actual paint)