Painting the brick adds nothing to the appeal. I suggest that you rethink the use of grey on the siding and garage door--it doesn't flatter either the brick or the roof. Instead, think of something warm.

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As a point of reference, the brick this update MCM was not painted.

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Leave the brick alone and change the grey siding and garage to stained (brown) wood. The gray does not work with your roof. Also remove or trim down the shrub on the far left.

No input on the house, but if you have any budget and energy left afterwards, do work with a landscape designer versed in midcentury landscaping. You might consider some hardscaping with brick to link to the house brick (i.e. don't paint).

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Since we're being queried I have to say that I don't care for the grey at all, finding it much too somber. And making more of it, as in the "after" photo, is a negative. I far prefer the color of the door and think it would be a better siding color than the grey. White would be a good door color. I can't see anything wrong with the brick so I wouldn't be painting it at all but would work with it in order to make it work.

What would make some difference is improving the landscape. There is a massive juniper that ought to be removed. And another large shrub on the left is overgrown. It either needs to come out or transform into something else.

I would not paint the brick. In painting the brick, it seems to me, you are solving a problem that does not exist. They house is already quite attractive. Further, the brick gives the house cohesiveness. It is on all three sections, the bedrooms, the porch and the garage. It ties them together.

What is less appealing is the landscaping. I see over grown shrubs that would be better removed.

Some sort of structure is blocking the view of the front door.

There is a poorly placed tree and a mound of soil interfering with the porch view.

I am not trained in making images so it is sloppy.

I would plant a small shrub under each bedroom window and maybe make bed around the tree.

The small tree could be relocated. It is not positioned well as it is now.

If you want to add wood you could do it with a new garage door.

A landing in front of the door would be a good idea.

Sorry you just instantly devalued your home when the brick is painted . I am hoping this pic in the gray is just a mock up and not something you already did. BTW the whole point of this architecture was exactly what you have a long low simple design and BTW I own one and was always my favorite style when in design school.

Please expand more on how painting the brick devalues a home? The brick is no longer in style. It's hideous multi-color tans and browns. I find leaving it actually devalues the home because it looks outdated. No curb appeal. A lot of brick is being painted these days for said reason.

I get the point about the architecture being intentionally a long, low, simple design. Makes sense. It's MCM, afterall. Just feels like a low-budget attempt at MCM. : )

The landscaping is on the list for an upgrade. The two large bushes seemed to anchor the house and would require something large and mature to replace them. So, thought to leave one or both. But, they are def ugly.

You asked, so I'm going to be honest: the mostly-grey look you have chosen simply does not enhance the outside of your home and it cheapens it. Your brick isn't, as you said, "hideous". It can be easily worked into your design and have great MCM appeal. In your rendition, the painted brick takes away most of the character away from the home. I think the biggest bang for your $$ would be to add new landscaping, accents, lights, and house numbers in the MCM theme. Beth had some fabulous ideas!

The two low horizontal elements are wooden benches anchored in the ground. They aren't going anywhere. So, need to work them into the design. Thought this would be a nice way to work the MCM wood element in by staining them. And, there is my planter/half-wall idea for creating a sitting area. This stuff is so much fun, but important to get it right!

The sitting area looks nice! View your yard in whole as you design, tho - the overgrown shrubbery on the left side and underneath the tree is a distraction and should go.

It's your house and should appeal to you. However, I agree painting the brick is a mistake in your case. I also agree the gray doesn't work with the roof. The gray is cool and the roof appears to be a red-ish brown...warm.

Yeah, the blue grey color on the siding came with the house. Wouldn't have been our choice. A "pre-existing" condition that we need to work around, and into, the design.

I agree. the brick is ugly, especially w/that roof color. So, either change the roof and landscaping to suit the brick, or keep the roof and paint the brick. it won't devalue the home if the right products and colors are used. that's just silly.

The current blue/gray color on your after picture is the wrong tone, (too cool for the roof) and wrong color to use w/the home. If keeping the roof, you have to incorporate it's color in whatever house color you choose.

Try Urbane Bronze or Iron Ore. it should work w/the roof/brick color

(just wanted to show you a pic of a similar color roof, and painted brick. I believe this is just black, or a very very dark charcoal. addition of the wood elements warm it up. and of course landscaping plays a huge role)

or, w/the red/brown roof, you could try white, and use wood accents w/Iron Ore trim

' Still feel something isn't balanced or it needs to be broken up somehow. ' But you painted the entire facade the same color??? It was broken up, now not so much.

One of the most glaring aspects of the exterior is the bright white trim. I'd paint the window trim the same color as the siding, whether you paint the brick or not. It will look more cohesive and streamlined that way.

I have seen many examples of brick where the brick colors and patterns, even though properly installed, look bad or even horrible. But that's not what is showing up in the pictures here. If you do have bad looking brick, you should make a better effort to take pictures that illustrate it.

If you paint what most people would consider good or decent looking brick, they feel it is devalued because 1) people generally like brick and view it as low maintenance, and 2) paint eventually requires repainting, which is an expense and a bother. Most people would consider painting decent brick as devaluing it. You're making the case that it's not decent, but you're not showing/proving that to the audience.

The brick (click image to zoom)

I could easily accept that brick. I think the white trim looks much better with it than does the dark siding. You might be trying to making the house into something that it doesn't want to be. It will cost more, take more effort, and risk success to go that way. I see other things I'd address long before changing brick color. This does not look like a front entrance with the wooden barricade structure in front of it.

The downspout should be painted the color of the brick, in order to camouflage, rather than as a standout feature.

Ok, so now that I see a closer shot, the brick isn't that bad, it's just more pink toned.

You've paired w/the wrong blue/gray, and that horrible green colored door. those two colors really clash.

since it's more pink, you want to stay away from yellows (like that yellowish pea color door) and go more towards the plum/purple side. For neutrals, try the taupes, pink grays, or silver grays. dark colors would be bronze, blacks, warm charcoals,

Here's what I would use w/your brick. if you want to go dark, try one of these three, (or kendall Charcoal or Chelsea Gray), for the trim, do one of the softer grays. if you want to stay light, go w/the darker gray for the body, and use that dusty mauve color for all of the trim. paint the door the plum color, or do a dark bronze. or match the brick and try a soft blush (far left door)

If you want to keep the brick and try some diff colors, let me show the correct color palette.

I actually love the combo on the right. works w/the brown roof too

see how this grizzle gray is a deeper charcoal w/less blue, that works w/the pink tones?

The existing blue/gray siding in the BEFORE pic has to stay unfortunately.

What type of siding is it? Most siding can be painted...

If you paint the brick and the rest of the house too I would suggest going lighter. If your roof has age on it I would also suggest replacing it. If you can afford metal standing seam roofing I would go that route. The landscaping could be freshened up. In fact I might recommend hiring a landscape architect especially if you have a backyard of any size. Good luck! It's a very handsome house btw!

Hi, the key consideration to work with is that the home is not MCM, but Ranch, and should be treated as such. Unless you want to engage an architect to change the roofline and windows, you should work within the Ranch style. I suggest you step back and reassess the design approach and consider "modern/updated ranch" vs MCM, in order to pull together a good overall design. With that in mind what needs to change first is the front door itself-it is out of sync with the house (color and style). Adapting the front entry to add a sunken patio is intriguing, and in line with Modern-Ranch approach.

Minor comments: color, as that is not my strength, but if you're going to live in it vs sell then do what you like. I agree with the suggestions of the landscaping updates. For better or worse you have a huge tree too near the house that you'll have to deal with. The small one should be moved sooner than later as part of the overall plan. You have a huge front yard to work with but unless you're a gardener, I would suggest not doing too much beyond anchor plants and then add potted plants for pops of color-but those minor items alone will do wonders for the look.