I don't think it looks so bad either, but then again, none of us are there! There is a color palette I have linked to that might be more of what you have envisioned. Personally, I think your home will look smashing with the brick painted. It's just a matter of finding the right combination. Just keep breathing, all you might need is a little tweaking!

Here is a link that might be useful: colors

I think it's darling. I think you need to paint the trim before you do anything then stand back and take a look. I would paint that cute little basement door a different color to break it up

Removing paint from brick is a nightmare. I tried it with our fireplace. The previous homeowner painted the brick white and I tried everything to remove it. Problem is, the brick is porous and absorbs remover and leaves paint in the crevasses. People advised me to get it sandblasted but I couldn't do that in the house.

I ended up faux painting the fireplace to look like natural brick.

Edna

Teacats - yes I do like those colors for the Cape on the BM color viewer. I think we still gravitate toward yellow, but just a lighter yellow than this maybe.

KMCG85 - yes, that color palette is close to what we were envisioning. The Cream color is more appropriate than our brighter yellow, I think.

Edna - I think you are right. We should probably paint the trim before making any rash decisions. I do think it would make a huge difference. I can't imagine painting the fireplace to look like brick! You were dedicated! I don't have much hope that it will come off, but it was worth a shot :)

If we decided to use Weston Flax which is one chip over from Hawthorne Yellow, do you think two coats would cover the darker yellow, or would we have to reprime?

Well I don't think the shade of yellow says Taxi Cab coming lol. It doesn't seem too bright, obnoxious or glaring at ALL to me.
Is the photograph in natural light without flash? To me the yellow reads sort of buttercuppy, goldy, or mustardy which is nice :)

Lorriekay - the photo was taken in the evening, so I'm actually not sure if the flash went off or not. The sun was going down which makes it more saturated I think.

There is actually a poster on gardenweb who has THE house color I'm going for. Is there a way to contact users personally so that I could ask if she'd share her color? Here is her house - her username is zipdee.

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Gosh, I remember zipdee's house and I am not positive, but I think she used SW Compatible Cream. If she has her email accessible on her 'my page', then I would go ahead and contact her. Someone here did that with me and I didn't mind. Or you could give her a shout out! It's done all the time.

Yeah.. I see what you mean. Well the "inspiration" yellow you were trying to mimic is more of a sunny yellowy and less buttercuppy. It's also lighter in shade. Can you take another pic of your house in brighter daylight?
It might appear much lighter. It would be great if you could contact zipdee :) but I don't know how
It's so hard to compare colors on the computer ..

albryant, that's my dream home. It's beautiful!!!!

I love it! I am a big fan of painted brick though - I think many brick homes look better painted. I've always wanted to paint ours, and would paint it the same color you've painted yours -- but I'm a chicken! I think you definitely made the right choice and it will make your house look much warmer and more welcoming, especially with the white/green in front. I would leave it! To me, it looks like the same shade as zipdees, which I also love. Not at all taxicab yellow.

I like your brick but the yellow isn't that bad. I think it is just a drastic change and you aren't liking it yet. I did that when I went from light paint (interior) to much darker. I h@ted it at first but once I put my things in it grew on me.

Really dark green or black trim would look amazing. That would make it look sort of Russian, and I love it. White is too common. And maybe a really dark red climbing rose, if you're in the right zone.

We have a brick house painted yellow. It has always been painted brick so I have no idea how the house looked as natural brick. We painted about 2 years ago, a BM color that I can't recall name of. It reads a lot more yellow than I envisioned and initially I did not like it. But we decided to live with it and continued with our plan to paint the trim white, the shutters black and the front door is dark red. We love it. The yellow has also toned down a lot in two years. It is a drastic change but I think you will like it as you get used to it!

I confess that I did not read this entire thread, so pardon me if someone else has already suggested the following...

I rather like the color and think that you could simply add shutters on the two larger windows. No need to treat the smaller windows if there is no room. Also, as others have suggested, a good foundation of green plants will do wonders. New door and railing, and your all set!

Sorry albryant, but I agree 100% with you...I've never liked painted brick. I'd try to get it off or cover it up asap.

If it helps any, just remember that no one has died and this too shall pass. That's what I say to myself when things go wrong...sometimes it helps, sometimes not. Hang in there girl.
Susan

Hi,
Just another vote for keeping the paint or painting the brick a color you like - just don't strip it. I rather like painted brick myself b/c so many brick homes are just boorrring. So much brick reminds me of courts, banks, and funeral homes! A little splash of color can make it much more "homey."

Well.........I'm not crazy about it but I think part of what I'm seeing is due to the time of day the photo was taken. In your inspiration photo, keep in mind their home is in a lot of shade and they have 'lots' of white wood trim everywhere to balance out the yellow.

Question: why would it take $1000 to repaint another color? It shouldn't have cost that much for just the back side of the house. Are you buying 5 gal containers and did you ask the paint store for a discount?
You shouldn't need to prime again......just put on another coat of whatever color you choose.
If you decide to keep the paint, I'd paint the trim first, then make your decision on the overall color.

Sand blasting is probably the only way to get paint off of brick and mortar. If you go that route there's still the chance you will have tiny flecks of paint left in the crevices.

I have nothing against painted brick but take another photo that includes more landscape and post it. Like you, I think it needs a different yellow/cream color.

I went to Sherwin Williams to pick up a chip of compatible cream and it looks brownish ivory, not at all like Zipdee's photo. It really is hard to tell colors on the computer.

The stripper is not working at ALL, so I'll return it to Sherwin Williams and at least recoup that $40.

Because it looks like we need to repaint, I think we've decided that the BM Weston Flax is more creamy and muted and will probably get us what we're looking for.

Annz - I said $1000 because it took $250 of paint just to do the back. That was Porter Paints during a 30% discount off of retail (they matched Ben Moore's color). Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams were going to be a lot more expensive. It took four gallons of primer and three gallons of paint for the back - and that's just one topcoat, not two. The brick soaks up the paint. We did buy 5 gallon containers. Porter isn't having a sale anymore, but if they will give me the 30% discount, I think we could repaint the whole thing for about $700 (paint and primer). I'm new at this - what kind of discount would I ask for anywhere else?

Thanks everyone for the ideas, input, and reassurance. I'm starting to calm down and think that the softer color and trim and shutters will help tremendously.

I really actually like the color. Maybe it looks different in pictures. But looking at your picture and zipdee's picture, one after the other, the colors don't look THAT far off. I think what differentiates them the most, other than the style of the house, is all the white trim zipdee has. Right now, you don't have that on the back of your house. Frame those windows in a nice crisp white and repaint the gutters and railing white and I think you'll have a whole different look back there. You could even do some white lattice work on the bottom part of your house.

I think the front of your house is adorable and will pull off the yellow beautifully with all the black and white accents!!

I think you're freaking out over nothing...unless the yellow is appearing grossly different in person than it is online. But like I said, on my monitor, the color of your house and zipdee's don't appear that much different. I say to continue on to the front!

Do you think maybe it's just not done yet? It's very flat across the whole house. Do you like it with creamy white trimwork/accents? I think it freshens it up. Last two pics are the foundation in a lighter shade, but not white.

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I don't think it's bad, but it does seem to be a bit bright. I really love the yellow on zipdee's house and if you could find that I would try to use that. I do feel your pain. But don't panick, everything can be fixed or rectified.

If it's too yellow for you, I think ZipDee used Compatible Cream (SW? BM?).

Squirrel - you are such a kind soul! I do think it's not "done" but I still think the color is just too bright. I think in a shadier setting where the house wasn't on a corner surrounded by brick, it wouldn't stand out as much. But in our situation, we're on the corner and all sides of the house are visible from some direction. It's just such a contrast from everyone else - and I want to be different, that was the goal in painting in the first place - but I also don't want to be glaringly different. Does that make sense?

We still love your original mock ups with the greenish-grayish-bluish shutters and I think that will look nice with the light trim and the new lighter yellow.

I also think the back is the worst side to judge since it is the plainest side. All other sides will have shutters to break up the yellow. We'd also like to add a deck at some point which will help break up the back.

Everyone's advice and feedback is invaluable to me. Thank you!

Sherwin Williams Compatible Cream looks tan on the chip compared to SW yellows. I guess it's comparing apples to oranges because of the shady setting of her house and that gorgeous wrap-around porch. She has a lot breaking up her color. Maybe we should try to find a house like hers and just move - that might be quicker ;)

Catching up on the reading! A lot happened in one afternoon : ) Sounds like you're on the right track with a more subdued yellow then, and the white trim and other things really do pull things together overall.

FreeAtLast was another poster who used Compatible Cream on the exterior. She writes for Attic Magazine also, if there are no posts/emails here. She actually has an article using that house over there, in the renovation nation section. (Can't find the article! but posting the link anyway.) It was pretty yellow as I remember. The yellows are supposed to be the most difficult to select, as colors go up brighter and more intense than small samples.

Hopefully the flax will work out. Good luck -- you'll get there : )

Here is a link that might be useful: Attic Mag - Renovation Nation

We just recently painted our house SW Jersey Cream & just love it, as do our neighbors. We painted the trim Dover White & the front door black because we have black railings. I, too, had several false starts with yellows feeling too bold, until the SW store recommended the Jersey Cream. Try it, you like it!!

Here's the current color, taken up a tad lighter and a tad less saturated. The foundation area remains the current yellow.

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Hi,

I'm sorry I'm just seeing this, I've been off the computer for about a week, we've been in the midst of resanding the downstairs floors, big project!

The posters above are right we did use SW Compatible Cream on the house. We did a lot of spotches before we picked that color and Hawthorn Yellow was one of the paints we tried out. On the card it looked exactly what I was looking for, but when we splotched a good section, it was way brighter than what I had envisioned. We we first started painting the Comp. Cream on the house, I had a few twinges of fear thinking it was not yellow enough, but when we got a whole side done, stood back and looked I was very pleased. We used Dover White on the trim and it looks nice with the CC. Good luck with your project! :)

I like it a lot. Here in NC, many people paint their brick homes. I drive around and am always shocked at first when someone does it but it's because you're not used to it. Everyone I know that has painted their brick home has had the same reaction- What have I done! They end up loving it. A home nearby was just painted a warm cream color. Beautiful! Shocking at first! I'm getting ready to paint the fireplace brick surround inside our home. Tired of the brick look but don't want to replace it so we're painting it also a warm cream. Goes better with most decor.

Orie .. we live in NC too and there are a lot of painted brick homes where we live also, especially on older homes.

Okay .. I went looking in my past pictures, I was hoping to find a side by side comparison of when we splotched the house, but I can't seem to find it.

The front of our home is in total shade, the back is in total sun. So we splotched each side. On the front we used the top dormer and painted each side a different color. This front area is Hawthorn yellow on our home. As you can see it a lot brighter that the Compatible Cream.

This is before we replaced the roof, stained the shakes, had not put trim on the windows yet, etc, etc ..

Hawthorn yellow in deep shade, I'm still looking for the in the sun shot, I remember it didn't look near this yellow in the sun, but still a lot brighter than the CC.

Here's part of the back of our home as we are painting, before staining the fence white, staining the shakes darker, old roof, etc ..

This is Compatible Cream in full sun:

I see you mentioned Weston Flax as a possible color. We had it in a previous home. Here is a photo.

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I sort of like it, but photos and monitors may not do what you want them to and it may look very different in real life. I would take the photo you like and print it out and see if it looks the same. If it does see about having it color matched. Do a sample paint on there.

What is bothering me though is painting the foundation the same color as it causes the house to get a different shape. I like what squirrel did when she lightened the foundation some.

Lizzie - Jersey Cream is a chip I picked up today that I really liked. We'll give that more consideration since it has worked for you (and your neighbors liking it is a definite bonus :)

Squirrel - YES! The second picture is more what I envisioned. It's just toned down enough to still be yellow and not cream, but it's not so loud. I still do think the different foundation color helps too, but DH isn't so sure. Have to think on that some more.

Orie - I'm an NC native now living in Tennessee and there are brick houses painted everywhere here too. I've always loved it, but I guess growing up seeing them ALREADY painted, I didn't realize what a shock it would be to do it myself.

Zipdee - Yes, the Hawthorne Yellow is as bright on your dormer as it is on our house. Our house faces South and doesn't have tons of shade, so the color is pretty bright all day long here. I LOVE the Compatible Cream on your house (and I just love your house in general. I saw a post of your girl's bedroom and it looks a lot like my oldest daughter's room. Love all that color). In my backyard when I put the chip next to our paint, it looks tan. It's amazing what different light does to the yellows.

Newhomebuilder - thank you SO much for posting those Weston Flax pictures. I really like it - it reads a lot more yellow in your photos that on the paint chip. We were worried it was too cream, but it looks beautiful in your old house.

Lyfia - I agree about the foundation, and that is a good idea about printing the photos with yellows that we like. Porter Paint has been great at matching colors for us.

Thanks again everyone. I'll be sure to post a new picture when we get a new color up :)

Here is a better picture. The dining room and hall are Weston Flax. The kitchen (in the background) is similar to Hawthorne Yellow, so you can get an idea of the difference in color.
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Where in TN do you live? I am in East TN.

I actually vote leave it and see if it grows on you. An antique store in town was ugly brick and they painted it a really bright mustard yellow. Similar to what yours shows. I thought it was hideous at first but then they did the trim and added a copper awning above the door and it is my favorite house of all! I so wish dh would go for us doing that here! I have to go into town later today and will try to snag a photo for you.

If your house has mostly sun then you might be doing good to go with the more tan looking Compatible Cream as the sun will bring out more of the yellow in it. Which may be why you think your current color is too bright.

Can you buy a sample can and paint a large sample board and put in different locations to see how it looks in different light?

I drove to town and snapped a few pics. I wish they were better but the street was really busy and there were cars parked in front of it. I couldn't pull off the road so I had to stop and snap and then drive by again and snap. LOL. Again, this is a house that was turned into an antique store. The time the pictures were shot was 12:00 so it is pretty bright outside right now. Again, I comment on this store every time dh and I go by in hopes that he will let us paint our bricks. LOL. Anyway, the house is simple in style and the color reminds me of yours so I thought this would encourage you to finish it up and see if you like yours better. IMO, way better than the red bricks!!!

The pictures aren't as deep gold as irl, I think because of the time of day. Maybe if taken later on it would be darker? It does remind me of your gold though.

Newhomebuilder - thanks for those new photos. I LOVE the way the Weston Flax looks next to that crisp white trim - beautiful. That is a gorgeous house! I'm in Nashville. You are in a gorgeous part of our state - especially this time of year.

Kahlanne - you are so nice to snap those photos. That building IS a lot like our house. I do like their yellow, and to me, in the photos, it seems more mellow than my house looks in person. I love that copper awning! We're entirely out of tinted primer and basically out of the topcoat, so we have to buy lots more paint no matter the color. It's supposed to rain here this weekend, so we will be living with the color for the next week and a half before making the final decision about what color to buy next weekend. Maybe it will grow on us.

Lyfia - good point. Maybe a more tan yellow is what we need. Funny enough, we did paint sample boards with the Hawthorne yellow and a few other colors. We thought the others were too cream, but I think even on a 4 foot square sample, I couldn't see what it would be like on the entire house. I'm not great at picking colors, and DH just said - "I don't care, pick a color" Needless to say, he's giving lots of input now :)

I think you will make it work. I love yellow painted brick with white trim-
Newhomebuilder- what is the white trim color? Love these colors!! Also, in the hall picture, there is a green color. Do you mind sharing the name of that?

Just thought I would try to photoshop the front using the eyedropper tool with the color on the back of the house. I like it! Thought you might like to take a look. (Sorry, I am not the best at it. There are far better photoshoppers here than me.)

Sorry if I am answering too many times but here is a thought....Why don't you buy either combatible cream or jersey cream...whichever of the creamy yellows you like and paint the bottom of the house like Squirrelhaven did in her photoshop pics. This way you will see how the cream will actually look on the bricks without investing the time and money in so much repainting. You may decide that the cream needs to be used only on the foundation anyway. (This is my vote!)If you love the cream better than the above paint, buy more and you have your color. Either way it will be stunning.

It's gorgeous. I don't think it needs to be more mellow or anything like that. I WILL look gorgeous when you are done. Just play around with the trim colors. Black, Blue, Red whatever. I mean just look at that last mock up.
:)
I honestly think you don't need change paints - just be brave.

I would post of photo of our house in the Jersey Cream, but can't figure out how to do it. If you want to see it, I guess I'll need your e-mail...how would I discreetly do that? It's easy for me to e-mail you with the photo. Sorry to be so "unskilled" with this site!

Lizzie - that would be great! If you click on my username, it should take you to my page which should show my email address.

chaispice - I'm confused,,, there is no green shown in any of my above photos. Could you be more specific about where you are seeing the green?

Also, the white was a pure white from Dulux Paints and it was an indoor/outdoor trim paint that my painters insisted we use. Had a wonderful and durable sheen.

Here is a link that might be useful: Trim gloss

Hi Newhomebuilder,
Thank you for the trim information-it is wonderful in your home. In the picture going down the staircase, it looks like it is green in the room past the nude figurine. Is that not right? I love your colors!!

I haven't participated here much but I thought I'd chime in.
I really like the color! It's gives your house sort of a one-story saltbox look.

Your house is adorable either way!

Kristy :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Saltbox

I haven't participated here much but I thought I'd chime in.
I really like the color! It's gives your house sort of a one-story saltbox look.

Your house is adorable either way!

Kristy :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Saltbox

That color is called Khaki Shade (that's the hallway that leads to my previous bedroom) and is more of a tan. It was an old SW color that we had used in a previous home. SW quit carrying the shade or the formula, so we took an old color chart to BM and they matched the paint for us.

Here are better photographs.

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What did you decide?
Is there an update on another thread.. did you keep the color or go with a new color?

Hi newhomebuilder, the pictures that your showing on this thread, is this the house your in now?