she does not look 90! plz dont paint the brick. you can never go back

No dont paint brick! When is that fad going to be over already - and yes, thats all it is - a passing fad that will not age well on many houses. .

Red brick rarely looks any good in combination with bright white - and the problem is the white, not the brick. White makes the earthier tones of the brick look dingy, whereas more appropriate & flattering colors like those show n in your pics will give it a much more sophisticated, cleaner and more appealing look. I especially like the pic just under your house - that could be yours!

I would start with roof samples - decide on that first, and then use it to start narrowing down paint colors - since its very prominent visible roof, it needs to figure into your color pallette. Will it be an asphalt shingle again? Again, something earthier will work better with your brick. If it must be gray it should be a warm brown-gray, nothing cool or blue. You will see that those are made up of different color granules and you could look at those to pull out a trim/shutter color.

Its a very appealing house aside from the screaming white and need for more abundant and thoughtful landscaping / plantings.. The walkway is well done and relates perfectly to the house, and the roofline is fine and the portico/covered walkway to the driveway is fine. Not seeing any benefit to futzing with rooflines and radically altering the architecture.

Have you thought about removing the round columns and replacing with heavier, squared posts? Cedar might be too farmhouse for you, but that change, plus removing the shutters and painting the wooden parts below the windows and the trim a darker color would look more modern.

You can easily achieve the look that is in your inspiration pictures. Paint everything that is currently white in a dark color of your choosing. Personally I love the dark bluish gray of the second picture. And I'd consider adding a railing like that one, even though your porch is not that high. I like the shutters and trim under the windows. They're nicely proportioned and I wouldn't remove them.

You can stain the front walkway a dark color too. A paint or hardware store can suggest the right product to use. (Anyone who has accidentally dripped stain on a walkway like this knows that it does stick.)

For landscaping, your beds should be at least 5 feet deep on both sides, with room for some evergreen shrubs in the back, and something lower in front of them that blooms e.g. small blooming shrubs or annuals. What climate zone are you in, or what larger city is close to you?

My house has orange stone, and I've found that colorful flowers look best if I avoid red, orange or pink colors. Flowers in white, cream, yellow, purple or blue look great with the house color.

If you're going to search for inspiration pictures, you'll get more similar brick colors if you describe the color as orange brick, not red. My search of "orange brick gray trim" showed this lovely example. I'd definitely go with gray for the roof and the walkway colors. Choose either grays or browns and don't mix the two, for the colors of your trim, roof and walkway.

@calidesign Thank you! I agree. The landscaping is not what it should be. I'm very good with house plants, but for some reason designing an outside garden overwhelms me, and whatever I buy doesn't end up working. I think we will talk to a landscape architect. I want color and lots of green.

@suezbell the maintenance seems a bit crazy. And not worth it. I don't think we would use another porch, and it wouldn't be in our budget. But thanks for thinking outside the box, I always love new ideas and perspectives.

@Anna (6B/7A in MD) Landscaping is definitely part of our plan. I know what I like, but struggle executing it. We plan to invest in a landscape architect. Would you replace the shutters with new ones? And if so, what kind? The door is new, so will not be replaced.

@st5330she says thank you :)

@Debbie Downer Yeah, we decided against painting the brick, and I have to say I feel relieved. And I completely agree, its the very much in your face white that bugs me. The pic directly below ours is my favorite of the inspiration pictures. We are considering a metal roof, but haven't done much research. If not that, then another asphalt shingle it is. And I agree- we have no plans to edit the architecture. Would be out of our budget and something we wouldn't utilize. Thanks for your info!

No, remove the shutters. Paint everything that is white, a cream color. The white is too harsh.

@gustaviatex I have thought about that. Definitely worth exploring, and I agree cedar would be too rustic. So you think no shutters?

@partimThanks for your info! We live in New Orleans, so our climate is quite tropical. I believe that's zones 9/10. Thank you for the color suggestions- that will be helpful.

Staining the walkway....would love more info about this. I tried searching for photos, but couldn't find anything.

Orange. That makes way more sense. I looooove the picture you shared! Thats pretty much the look we are going for.

Also, is there a name for the type of tile on our walkway? Thanks!

Are those aluminum windows? Look to be and that really dates it. The aprons below the windows saved the builders some bucks. If you can take the windows on the porch down to the floor, they'll look better. The double windows probably need to stay as they are, but if you can find a brick similar to what you have and then stain your brick, you can switch to all brick below the windows. Staining brick won't lead to maintenance issues like paint will, and lots of Houzzers like Romabio for brick. The double windows certainly don't need shutters, but you could leave them on the single ones.

@decoenthusiaste They are aluminum and will be part of the project to replace. They let tiny bugs in, and our very much valued cool AC air out!

We are considering lowering the windows to the porch. For below the double windows, we will likely keep the vinyl. Would it be too much if we lowered those windows as well?

Romabio is a bit too shabby chic for our taste. I think we plan to keep the brick as is.

They make 15 colors and I don't think a limewash look is their limit.

https://romabio.com/masonry/

What rooms are the double windows in? I assumed bedrooms.

Here's an interesting hip roof house with a pergola and French doors. Could be you...

The problem with painted brick is it can easily trap moisture. Bricks need to breathe. Unlike others, I like your shutters. The white is too harsh with the brick, but I would certainly keep them You have a very cute house.

The shutters are fine. Yeah, you do see some that look silly and tacked on, dont really fit the architecture .... but yours are not those. Once you darken them up they will be part of a cohesive design and wont stick out like sore thumbs.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5781352/in-desperate-need-of-curb-appeal

Follow this discussion for more info on Romabio

Hi everyone- we decided to not paint the brick. We plan to rip up the walkway, and do a modern paver instead. The attached photo is what we are going for as far as painting gutters, etc. We will be adding a fences along our driveway, with a modern horizontal gate. On the gate will be large mid century house numbers.

I am struggling with the following:

*do we remove the shutters? And if so, what happens to the vinyl siding underneath the windows? When we replace the windows, should we let them fill the whole space? I keep going back and forth on what to do.

*visualizing everything. Would I hire a designer for this kind of job? Would love to see a mockup how it will look.

Thanks for any info!

The inspiration picture:

Now that we've talked you out of painting the brick, can we talk you out of removing the walkway? It's a beautiful link to your house. Honestly, getting a landscape designer to plan the landscaping will have a bigger impact than putting in pavers. I agree, the shutters should go. Here's a charcoal gray/brown roof that goes well with brick below and taupe trim, no shutters. Can you photograph the color of your brick close-up?

Urban Home Magazine · More Info

Ugh, the worst thing you could have said (lol). I hate the walkway, and have tried to love it for 3 years. But you might be right. Maybe we edit everything else, including landscaping, then circle back to it in a year or so. Here is a close up:

If we removed the shutters, what do we do with the vinyl space under the windows? I have a hard time finding examples online.

Paint the vinyl the trim color, which should be a darkish "greige" now that I see the grout. That will harmonize everything, linking to your greyish roof. When you get a new roof, have just a bit of red/brown in it as one of your inspiration photos. What you have now isn't bad. Honestly, the landscaping is going to be the huge thing. Devote most of your budget to that.

Thank you @housegal200!

Update:

We had the following colors suggested to us for the gutters, fascia, etc. Hoping I can get some input on choosing:

Sherwin Williams Thunder Gray

Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze

Ben Moore Dragon’s Breath

Ben Moore French Beret

Ben Moore Cheating Heart

Also, are gutters and fascia the same color? Different?

This is the inspiration picture we are after:

Our house:

I got plans drawn up by a landscape architect:

Very excited to implement it this spring.

Giving this a bump...

Is the walkway you hate made of bricks set in a pattern? This site may help you identify the pattern.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=image+brick+walkway+patterns+identified&qpvt=image+brick+walkway+patterns+identified&FORM=IGRE

Does it lead to your mailbox? Even if it does, if you've hated the sidewalk for three years, it makes no sense to plan your landscaping keeping it and even enhancing it.

If you still hate it, consider removing it entirely and replace it with a sidewalk or other walk path that suits you ... but shaped differently. Create a sidewalk that comes straight forward out from your porch but only for as many feet long/deep as you want to have a planting area between sidewalk and house to be, then turn the sidewalk toward the driveway, enabling you to have more options for your front yard landscaping. You could continue your new walk path alongside your driveway and even move the mailbox a few feet to one side if that works better for you. Just make sure your street number is on the box or post.

You want your gutter and downspouts to visually disappear as much as is practical so they probably need to be brown rather than white -- and you might paint your fascia(and perhaps your soffit the same color).

The second photo -- first inspiration photo -- you posted would be a great look to aim toward but requires a budget to alter your house/roof. Since that doesn't seem to be practical, skip the look of the house itself and decide what you like about the yard in your inspiration pics. Do you like the sidewalk turning at a right angle behind a privacy wall? If so, see what you could do with that feature in your yard.

Not a fan of the landscape design you have ... too "busy" and too "crowded" for that relatively small front yard-- and too much work to maintain (great for your local yard company IF you can afford to hire out your yard work).. Weeds will grow in those pebble areas and they'll not stay as "pretty" as the day they're added. It is entirely likely that some plants you might want will not grow well in the shade of of that beautiful old tree.

Having to do more work around your sidewalk isn't going to make you like it more.

Not a pro, but, as someone in a household of people that have always always done our own yard work ... and having done my fair share of it, I strongly recommend you hit pause and rethink your front yard landscaping plan. Be sure before you invest in

Sorry to say I agree with Suezbell's assessment of your landscape plan. It looks very choppy.

I would also suggest you investigate Algerian Ivy before you plant any. I would not recommend it unless you have a very large area to cover.

@suezbell thanks for all of the thoughtful input, it is all appreciated.

We will be replacing our roof next year, so that's not a big deal. I liked the overall color scheme of the house. And the lighting, which we plan on updating in the porch area. I understand there are lots of details different with their house- a garage, chimney, etc. But I feel the color scheme could be closely matched.

You got me thinking about the landscape design. Just feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of these decisions, even after hiring someone.

I don't like the walkway tile, but see nothing wrong with the way it connects to the house? The plan was to update landscaping, paint, then see if the walkway grows on us. If not, we would rip it up and replace with pavers.

@emmarene9 Thank you for that suggestion. Any other input would be appreciated!

Your home is really nice as is so making all the decisions isn't all that urgent. Follow your own instincts and enjoy your home and yard. Looking forward to the after pics.

@suezbell thank you! I love the inside of our house... looking forward to coming home and loving the outside as well.

Melissa, please be patient. Some people don't like to open old posts as the think they OP has vanished. Eventually if the post stays active they will look. Also, this is a depressing time in our nation.

I was hoping a talented person would arrive to give you a mock up. In the mean time I edited your picture to show you how the house could look with less distractions.

I don't like plants that block a porch like yours so I removed them.

I did not like shutters on the double windows so I removed them. Now I like the space between the windows better. The proportion seems right.

If you like the shutters on the narrow windows you can keep them. I wouldn't as I don't like them on a Prairie Style house. Yours is more of a ranch with Prairie elements.

Windows need to make sense from the inside of the house. Consider that when you think on lengthening them. In a bedroom it would make placing furniture more difficult. I also suggest no grids when you get new windows.

For the first time I noticed the left side of your walk is higher than the right side and the side walk is raised. I now think the person who placed it may have been a brilliant problem solver.

I am not suggesting that you have no plants. I was just attempting to simplify the house itself.

When you spoke with the designer did you ask for specific things, like the dry creek beds?

I wouldn't line the new fence directly with the house. I think set back a little would look less boxy.

@emmarene9 Just seeing your comment for some reason! Thank you so much.

Our contractor began working on our house this week. We removed the shutters and painted everything white in Benjamin Moore Dragon's Breath- the window frames at 75%.

We plan to edit the garden beds, but will not be going with the renderings the designer created. I sent her inspiration pictures, and I think one of them had used pebbles. We will pull up the shrubs and plant Birds of Paradise, and we will extend the garden alongside the driveway.

Once things are done, I will share a picture. Thanks to everyone for the input. It definitely got us thinking in different ways.

Melissa you have a beautiful home and the BM Dragon Breath will look lovely on the trim, etc. Looking forward to seeing the improvements.

Just read your thread through. It was a good idea to remove the shutters if you're going for a more contemporary look. Pavers can be re-stained. You can use concrete stain to change the color.

@Debbie Downer, I think you may have misread. OP states that they painted everything that was white Dragons' Breath.

Looking forward to the results.

Thank you Kat - I did indeed misread. Sorry OP, I will remove negative post. Yes I too would like to see your "after" pics.

I think I have PTSD from so many "I want to slap white paint on my beautiful natural brick" threads on Houzz! I appreciate that you recognize the beauty of what you have and are working with it, instead of against it.

Current Resident-I so agree that it's nice to see someone wanting to enhance the natural beauty of the brick they have. Not everything needs to be painted white, whether it's brick or beautiful wood kitchen cabinets! IMHO, every one of the brick houses the OP has more character than a brick house with white paint slapped on it.

@Sonny 62 Thank you so much. Looking forward to sharing!

@katinparadise Taking the shutters off made a drastic difference!

Re: Painting the brick... I'm so glad we realized it wasn't the brick we disliked. It was the glaring white next to it! Officially part of the "preserve the brick" club now. :)

@Debbie Downer No worries- I didn't even see the "negative post"- ha. We definitely want to work "with" our house and not against it.

I will for sure post pictures. When we were trying to come up with a plan, I found a bunch of posts on here with people in a similar dilemma, but NEVER posted progress of after pictures. Made me nuts!

I would say that 98% of the dilemmas that get commented on never get to the finish line. I'll be excited to see where you end up. I love a hip roof house and yours has tons of potential!

Update:

We painted the gutters and soffits Benjamin Moore Dragon's Breath and the columns and windows the same color, but desaturated. Changed out the lights, updated furniture, removed shutters and added horizontal fence/gate. We ripped up the hedges in our beds and planted birds of paradise, gingers, a banana tree and vincas. Over time they will fill nicely. Our beautiful oak tree's roots are right below the walkway, and we decided it wasn't wise to mess with it.

The week we finished, our dream home down the block went up for sale, and we made an offer. Thankfully since we have invested so much time and love into our home (with a lot of guidance from Houzz) and it sold within 24 hours.

So we passed the "finish line" for our current home, and will thankfully we able to admire her beauty when walking the neighborhood. Thanks everyone for your input, and I hope the pictures help others looking to update a side century ranch home!

Looks great! Feels modern and 'now'!

The changes are fantastic and I'm sure they helped sell the house quickly! Congratulations on your new home as well!

Very well done! I love seeing the update. And, congrats on the sale of the home & moving. I hope it all goes well!

Thank you for sharing. Now have a new gray to recommend with red brick.

Glad things worked out for you.

@houssaonhappy to hear that- good luck!

@The_Lane_Duo Thank you!

@katinparadise I think it definitely did!

@HALLETT & Co. definitely what we were going for- thanks!

I dont know if "modern and now" is the right word - what does that even mean. To my eye, there is something delightfully retro about the red brick + gray combo that is completely in sync with the original design of the house, AND! it still fits nicely with current color schemes and decor styles. I think you might have achieved that elusive thing they call "timeless."

@Debbie DownerOh that's such a big compliment- thank you so much!