Hey, I know this post is like 3 years old but my husband and I are stumped about what to do with our home's exterior. I found this on accident and couldn't believe how similar our houses were! The yellowish brick with FLESH colored trim! Just like ours! We loved our house the second it was shown to us because of the inside but the outside is atrocious! I've always tried to find a house with the brick colored the way ours is and never could, because I was hoping to see what someone else was able to so with their trim to make that brick look nice. And here your house has the sand flesh colored trim- I really can't believe it! Curious to know what you ended up doing! I love the idea of painted/stained and sealed brick but my husband HATES it. I'd love to see the outcome of anything you did whether you painted your brick or just did something with that leash trim ! I sincerely hope this post gets seen!!!

Color could fix all the ills you've listed -- fer sure. The actual building is not that bad, in fact it could be kind of fun. It's on the beach and light yellow might not be your only color option. The cost of paint isn't based on color; a predictable light yellow will cost the same as something a lot more fun. Vinyl siding can absolutely be painted. Good news is that yours is blue so you have more options. If you paint vinyl siding you are restricted to using a paint color that is exactly equal or less than the current color's LRV. Light Reflectance Value. Manufacturers of exterior products like garage doors, entry doors, shutters, decorative elements will list in their documentation with the product the LRV specifications. Use a paint color that pushes that LRV spec and you lose all warranties. So painting vinyl does come with some rules, but like most things in color there is a way to bend the rule. Sherwin Williams has a product specifically for painting vinyl siding and the way the color is crafted gives you a broader range of color choices. It's called VinylSafe and it allows you to paint darker colors on vinyl siding without worrying about warping or buckling. Can only get VinylSafe colors mixed in exterior bases, not interior. The stucco probably had color mixed in. That's a good thing but it's not a forever thing. Even stucco with the color mixed in eventually will need attention, not sure I'd call it maintainence free. If it's a matter of making the facade appealing to renters so you get revenue, then the convenience of built-in stucco color isn't really doing much for ya. Just 'cuz you don't have to paint it doesn't mean people want to live it. Painting that brick is a really good idea, IMO. So, yeah, the disjointed materials and the disparate color scheme is a problem. But painting everything the same light yellow isn't necessarily the right solution --- or maybe I should say the most *inviting* solution you could come up with to give it more curb appeal. Not sure if you were thinking along the lines of painting everything light yellow or not. I do think you have some significant color design opportunities.

I went to check the pic again but it's down now. Anyway, Is it siding you can paint? Sometimes you can get away with unifying different surfaces by painting them the same color, or similar colors (two shades of the same hue). Some things look a little weird when painted, but I'd rather have the right color paint than the wrong color original surface. At least blue isn't horrible with cream or white or yellow.

Hi, some thoughts out loud as I iterate a bit more. The current house aside from the front is D5 high-quality vinyl siding and 5" trim which we are not replacing at this time. And plenty of fixed and casement around the bottom. We've enjoyed the Dryvit on the front but it's in need of repair. We're not rebuilding the existing roof, except to add in the porch roof and addition connection. So the white trim and belt with crown are used elsewhere. And the bow window will be deep under the porch but we think a porch is what we've been waiting for for 20 years. Good southern exposure anyway. But good points by everyone so far, so thanks very much! So, Kristin S, regarding the mixed siding materials... Here in NW Ohio anyway, I have 25+ photos of well-built homes that break all these rules with mashup of straight, stone, shake, vertical, some with all four. (Not to mention an insane number and complexity of gables, varying levels of stone heights.) Plus white trim, siding-colored trim, black exterior window frames, and everyone is nuts for standing seam porch (but only the porch). And one house with a crazy wide eyebrow roof VENT. So, I recognized as well what many on Houzz say, which is using so many materials don't make any "vernacular" or I guess I mean "functional" sense. But they give a little variety here and there. And people can do what they want, so I see how it happens. It seems to me that what pros such as yourselves are saying when it comes to mixing materials is that stone as a foundation makes sense. And maybe that one material per floor makes sense (like layers on top of each other). But of course our home is some interpretation of Craftsman, Prairie, Coastal, and look at a bit of each, but still wanting to stay on the simpler side. But we're also trying to push it a little on this addition, give it a little more flair. I'm cringing now at the first ideas, and pleased with everyone's comments helping us iterate again. So lyfia, I guess as we kept looking at this and many other photos, and trying many shapes, we just want something nice to happen, while including the belt. But maybe the proportion needs work. cpartist, our returns are actually flush, thanks for noticing because they shouldn't be "pork chop". But since I'm not changing everything all around, PPF, while I like the closed angled eave, I guess that seems out. (My flat soffits are beadboard look). PPF, going to look at the columns. Will try double in the center again. Trying to not block the door, or the bow, and the bow wall span is 15'ish, while the door span is 13'ish. In any case, will probably make them robust and with a little trim accents. RES 3d Sketches, shake is so beautiful, I'm planning to use fiber cement shake, which can be weaved, but I have white trim so much elsewhere. I do love the flaring though, going to look at that some more. I'm surprised no one mentioned the stone planter boxes in front of the porch! (Just trying it on for an idea). Actually, maybe there shouldn't be stone in front of the porch deck, since a porch doesn't sit on a foundation? Will post again soon.