What are your thoughts on painting only part of a brick house?
My house is fully brick and very BROWN. I'm thinking of only painting the first bump out portion White Dove to add a little interest...my question is, should I paint the columns as well? Should I leave the little accent bricks above the windows and front door natural, or paint those? I've attached the actual house as it looks now plus a very rough mock up of what i'm thinking.
Comments (15)
Denita
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoRelated Discussions
Seen Your Kitchen, What's the Rest of Your House Look Like? Part2
Comments (137)House I designed and planted all the plants and shrubs myself. Of course I needed a big truck and manpower for the two trees. My old rescue girl. Back yard and the "BOSS" Foyer to game room Area Front porch, steps and walk way diy bricking is done,the cement area below is now a bricked step. Next the back porch and patio. The picture you have seen a thousand times. Living room you have seen a thousand times. Miles of nature preserve for walking,biking or horses just around the corner. A mile down this path leds to a state park with some great kayaking and canoeing. 12 minutes to the beach And, since I'm shameless...this 4/3 house on 1 1/4 acre is in P.B. County and will be up for sale in a year or so. I best get a better camera and let someone else take the pictures lol....See MorePainting Exterior (including brick) of my house . . . help!
Comments (4)What a nice looking home! A few suggestions...that bush on the right of the picture is too large and too close to the house so you'd probably have to remove it to paint anyway. Keep plantings away from the house for water drainage reasons as well as aesthetics as the plants get bigger. The shutters on the house are too small....either remove or replace. To look right, shutters have to look like they actually work....when shut, just cover the window. I like the brick and would try to work with it. However, if you choose to paint the brick then consider eliminating the wall sconces and replacing with a pendant in your lovely arched porch. It will highlight the porch and the front door so much more. (I think the brick would be too hard to patch well unless painted.) It's hard to see what's going on with the front door...does that have sidelights? If not, I'd consider replacing it with a door that does....more glass and jewelry will really make that entry way a total wow! My preference is not for blue. Blue is a hard color to get right on the exterior. (Neighbors really flubbed it with their house which is now port-a-pot blue!) But it can be done if it has enough gray in it. You might go to the Certainteed website where they have a colorview area where you can select a home similar to yours and paint it different colors to see what you might like. Sherwin Williams has a color visualizer on their website that allows you to upload your own photo and try on paint colors. Benjamin Moore has their color gallery where you can select the color of your brick and then it will recommend color combos. For example if I select BM silver crest it recommends slate blue or red river clay along with the dark gray like your roof color. Here is a link that might be useful: Silvercrest...See MorePainting brick house & retaining wall: help w/color & visualizing
Comments (18)I live in the South where painted brick is very common, and I love it. However, I don't think your brick is ugly at all! Maybe it's the effects of the sun fading it, or whatever, but it actually looks quite nice to me. My concern about painting your brick would be the amount of sun you say your house gets, as it would likely cause your paint to fade unevenly. Also, as someone mentioned previously, painting your brick would just create a different huge block of color to look at, and won't necessarily help to reduce the impression of size. If I were you, I would give my shutters and trim a fresh paint job; Charleston Green shutters and door with a warm white trim would go great with that color brick. Replace the brass door knocker and handle with some something less bright (even antiqued brass would look better). I also like the idea of the planter boxes for the upper windows to add a little softness and to visually break up the facade a bit. You will never achieve a cottage look with your home, as its overall design is inherently more formal, but I think these few smaller changes will go a long way towards helping it feel more cozy and warm and reduce the impression of size. Once you have your house spruced up, deal with the problems of the retaining wall separately. I agree that a painted retaining wall would not look good at all. I like the idea of a stacked stone or similar material....See MoreWould Like to Have Your Thoughts About My Home
Comments (45)sable, as you'll see I followed your suggestion about adding some books to the mantel. I also hung up the picture instead of just putting it on the mantel and now I'm not sure which version I like best. My husband, who has a good eye, has been hounded so much about the decor in the last few days that he told me he was no longer able to care. He's a man, a little of this stuff goes a long way, and he's been tested beyond his limits. The roses in the garden are from at least two years ago and are from early June, after we had some rain, I think. We did have 3 inches in the last storm but nothing since, although they promised us one storm after another. I think most of El Nino is going to happen in the more northern parts and up into south Oregon. I still hope for more; the rainy season isn't over yet. You might get more than I will here. That's a really nice area where you live. patty, I'm glad you like the flower picture back on the mantel, and I hope you'll also volunteer whether you like the picture better propped up or hung on the wall, and the area with or without books. These are important decisions! I'm with you about agonizing more about the little stuff, maybe because there are so many more ways to move small pieces around than large ones. I like your idea of a blue/cream theme, which would look very fresh and charming. Putting it all together, of course, would take some thought and work, but if it's something you're enthusiastic about it could also be a very creative, enjoyable process. If you collect blue and white porcelain that is European it is much cheaper than the Chinese stuff, which has gotten very pricey and you have to really know what's genuinely antique, because there are tons of fakes around nowadays. Mt. Helix is in west San Diego county whereas we're in northeast San Diego county, in a rather rural area, which we love. Mt. Helix is a very beautiful area to live in but I work nearby so this was the logical spot for us....See More
cat_ky
4 years ago
chloebud
4 years agohoussaon
4 years agoI would put shutters on the large windows and get a solid front door. Add some landscaping.
PROBeverlyFLADeziner
4 years agoIf you limewash the total house you can leave or take off as much of the white as you see fit.
laynebordelon
4 years agoThanks guys! Landscaping is definitely coming soon. We needed to remove a tree that was throwing too much shade on one side but we wanted to do all painting and other projects on the facade before we put in the landscaping. We live in south Louisiana and doing a mix of painted brick with natural brick is very much the look of most houses around here. Here’s a couple of photos that give an idea of the more “airy” style we are after. and I promise if these bricks were Old Chicago or anything like that I definitely wouldn’t paint, but these are not fancy :)
Denita
4 years ago
tfitz1006
4 years agolaynebordelon
4 years agoLizzie Bennett
4 years ago
Rhonda Jones
5 months agoWhat did you end up doing? I have been searching the internet for partially painting all brick homes and couldn’t find much. I want to paint or mortar smear my columns and corner accents only.
Rhonda Jones
5 months agomxk3 z5b_MI
5 months agohousegal200
5 months agolast modified: 5 months agoOh, please don't paint your house white in front or anywhere! Use landscaping in different heights and colors and hardscaping to create contrast with the brown brick and pull the eye foreward, and soften the façade. Please consider that your solution, not creating a mish mosh, color block-y kind of look just because there's too much brown.
Note how the handsome, solid look of large rocks within in the planting beds add natural rounded shapes that pull the eye forward. Also, note the curves of the planting beds which soften the many angular lines on the house siding, roof, and columns. This is the direction to go in to give your house more interest and add color and soft sightlines.
Piscataqua Landscaping & Tree Service - Favorites · More Info
Something like this, or a large tree island to the left of your house, plus deep foundation plants would soften all these tall, straight lines and straight walkway. Not sure why you removed a tree because it was too shady in Alabama. Shade in a hot climate, with shade plants below are cooling and welcoming.
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katinparadise