Here are more pictures:

that any pictures of houses with brick similar to ours would be very helpful. We would like to do this in the spring; we have aluminum siding and it REALLY needs to be painted. We don't want to end up replacing it!

This picture actually shows the color of the brick the best...

On my monitor your house colors seem to be in the grey tones. What about painting the siding the color of the mortar between the bricks. That would tie in well. I like the color of the doors, it really compliments the brick and mortar.

Hi Roseabbey,

Thanks for the thought. It does look gray in some of these pictures, but it doesn't seem gray in real life. I don't know, it's just hard to say what color it is!

I really want something besides white. We are modernish people when it comes to decorating; the house has all hardwood floors in a nutmeg tone. We're surrounded by woods. Other ideas?

It's kind of hard to get a feel of the house from the pics. You have a black accents (door, fixtures, ironwork, gutters?) What color is the garage door? It looks like a very deep brown.

GArage door is black. It will go at some point--it's the original door, and it's the kind that doesn't bend--it's all in one piece. So we will replace it eventually, perhaps with a white one, though I don't know about that yet. We obviously have some major decisions to make. When we get a new roof, we'll probably paint the gutters too, so we don't have to keep the gutter colors. And we're not closed to the idea of repainting the shutters either! We'll probably paint the front doors at some point, as well as that iron work (even if we just re-paint black, or whether we choose another color). I want help thinking about this now so we can make a plan!

If you want sophisticated, you could do a medium taupe that compliments your brick. That would look nice with your black accents.

If you want earthy, it looks like you could go with a gray-green too.

A blue-gray would also look nice with black.
Diane

From what I can see, BM Texas Leather AC-3 might pick up on the grout color in your brick and blend nicely. Hard to tell, but take a look at the Texas Leather. Once painted on a big expanse, it is not as dark as the chip. I would also paint the trim in a darker version of the Texas Leather. Ask if you can double the formula and see how that looks.

Here's a greige and a warmer, brighter beige.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

I too like the idea of using the mortar colour for the siding. I know that you didn't ask, but how about changing up the black on the shutters, perhaps even the front door? And a neutral colour for the garage door? I like it when the garage door blends into the house, but the front door pops (so the door could stay shiny black if the garage door was toned down, same with the shutters?).

Here are a few colors and ideas:
BM Clarksville Gray on siding

BM Texas Leather on trim

BM Willow on doors

Also BM Stone Hearth is worth a look.

And SW Perfect Greige

We painted our siding SW Roycroft Grey Mist. It is a sort of grey beige. It turned out really nice with white trim, black shutters and a deep red front door, no brick though. It's really hard to envision a color on as large an area as an entire house. I painted samples on posterboard and taped them to the siding (I'm sure my neighbors thought I was losing it!)

I would definitely pick up the darker color (of the mortar) and use that for the siding color. It will look beautiful and sophisticated. Then see how the black works with it and change those elements if needed.

Hi everyone,

Sorry I sort of abandoned this thread--I just got super busy!!

Anyway I have actually been thinking of painting the brick as well as the siding to make it all one color. I sort of don't like this brick color, and it's faded more in some places, which throws off the already hard-to-define color.

so--I've been thinking of a dark gray, with black shutters and a red door. It's totally unlike anything else on the street, which has lots of colored brick and white or yellow siding.

thoughts or opinions about this?

Also--anybody have any idea how much more it would be to paint the brick, too? I think I might be afraid of the answer. But I have been thinking about this a lot every time I pull up to my home, and I think I want to do something different from the neighbors. Everything looks so cookie-cutter (and we have no HOA, so that's not a concern). I've seen other houses this age with painted brick and siding to match and it looks much more sophisticated but I have to watch the budget!

Our house is painted brick, and our neighbors recently painted their (schoolhouse red) brick. It's amazing how the paint updates the house and helps the different finishes (brick, siding, etc.) achieve a harmonious whole. I heartily endorse it.

Don't let anyone tell you (and they will) that painted brick requires all kinds of upkeep, because it doesn't. If it's done properly, the job should last for many years. Ours has lasted for over 21 years (16 during our tenure, and at least 6 more during the previous owner's tenure) and looks perfect.