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Need help choosing exterior color for colonial w brick/siding

13 years ago

Hi everyone,

Here's my house:

We are planning to paint it this summer because the paint job is terrible--and I really don't want to replace the siding!! We are considering painting the whole house a single color, but have NO idea what to choose. I hate the brick color--it's basically concrete-colored, so that's another reason why we want to paint the brick. Neighbor's house has red brick and yellow siding, so I guess we ought to avoid yellow.

In the next year or so, we'll also redo the roof, and at some point in the not too distant future we will get a new garage door.

Any color ideas? I am open to anything, including painting the whole thing white. I love grey houses and that's not a color anyone else on our street has. But I would love some other ideas. Also, keep in mind that right now the shingles are black but that will change in a year or so, as I mentioned.

Also, does one paint the gutters when one paints the house, or should that happen later with a roof change?

Obviously we are having some problems with the order of operations here...

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give us!

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Comments (5)

kimcoco
13 years ago
I love your brick the way it is, I'd just change the trim color. LOL. I know that's not what you are asking....

Do the gutters when you replace the roof, don't bother painting them.

You will get more hits on the Home Decorating forum for paint color suggestions. I'd post there. Good luck.
stefaniematt
10 years ago
I know this is an old post, but am wondering if you painted your house. I googled "paint brick and siding colonial" and saw your link. I have almost the EXACT same house -- same siding and same gray-colored smooth brick. We are thinking about painting the whole thing (including brick) one color with new shutters and trim. If you did paint, can you post a picture? How did it go?
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Very nice....I suggest posting this in home decor too...lots of good people with good color advice there. I like the white and black and then a color on the siding with maybe a 4th color accent on the front door. It is so neutral that you can go with any color you want....maybe pick a color out from the stone you will be adding to the front....
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@leelee, LOL, yes the red/orange color is the color I'd be covering up. :) @celerygirl, thank you for doing that! That was really helpful and took your tip and tried this on the BM site as well! I am agreeing with you all that the lighter neutral color would work best. Here are the colors I've narrowed it down to that look good with BM Gray Mirage: BM 2146-60 November Rain BM HC-80 Bleeker Beige BM HC-173 Edgecomb Gray SW 7738 Cargo Pants (will need to compare the paint chip to BM Gray Mirage to be sure but looks good from what I can tell) If you have any thoughts on these 3 colors (or any others), I would love to hear them since I am absolutely horrible at picking out colors and have made some costly and timely mistakes in the past. You guys are great! Thanks again!
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Wow thanks for the input, guys! While I think the green works, it's just not my thing. I have played with gray browns, taupes, and think they look nice. I definitely want to stay with neutral earthy tones but I'm not feeling the green. I am also conflicted about the tudor-style, or board and batten, trim. Do we paint it the same color as the siding to reduce the busy look, and perhaps paint only the perimeter trim a different color? This was a question our painter asked because it's sort of in style right now. I think the beige garage door is what irks me the most. We did consider a new garage door but decided against the cost of it for now. Our painters are coming by with some taupes and dark brown samples tomorrow, so keep the ideas coming!
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purrus
Original Author
10 years ago
Hi there,
We haven't done it yet, but I still want to. I actually found a neighborhood near here (tipped off by my neighbor who's been thinking of doing this for ten years but has yet to pull the trigger) where there are tons and tons of houses like ours, most painted a single color. They look great. And it's in a very fancy area, which I think explains the greater prevalence of doing this than my specific neighborhood, which is nice but not ritzy (since painting the brick adds a lot of $$).

I took pictures of some of these houses, which I'm happy to post.

I think it's important though to hire a really really good painter, and to shell out the extra $ for good paint. I've seen some crappy jobs and it's not worth it.
stefaniematt
10 years ago
Yes, I would LOVE to see some pictures. Also, where do you live? I live in Metro Detroit and I see so many houses with this gray brick which I just think is so dated looking. I'm thinking about a mocha brown or a mossy green, but am unclear if I should paint the brick and the siding the same and also how to pick an accent color. I also posted a photo of our house so you can see how similar they are!
purrus
Original Author
10 years ago
Wow, they ARE similar! That brick!!!

FYI, I emailed you with more details.

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