That would be a good color or one that is just a bit lighter.

You could cut the tops of the bushes so that they are not hiding the windows. They will be bare for a while, but will fill in.

If it were my house I would do something like this

Farmhouse Garage · More Info

And I would look for a way to highlight the detail over the garage doors, and paint the inside of the window frames in the front

We have a similar color Old Chicago Brick. We decided on the lightest color in the brick for the base of the house and the darkest oj/red in the brick for the trim. Your entry light would really help your door pop too!!

Bronze or charcoal gray would work.

Using the mortar color can be another option, as long as it also works with the roof color.

Thank you so much everyone who has made suggestions! This is my first house & I’m excited to get started.

I love the idea of charcoal gray, any recommendations on brand or specific color? Door color to go with gray?

Another question- the wood pattern above the garage, does that date the home?

What dates the home the most is the bushes out front. They need to be one of the first things to go.

Melissa, be sure to consider the roof color. A gray roof is fairly neutral and easy to work with. However, if your roof is a warm color, a cool gray or charcoal can fight with it.

@chloebud I hadn’t thought of that! Hard for me to tell exact color of roof but appears more cool toned to me, what do you think?

@suedonim75 bushes are out!

On my screen it's looking kind of light brown-ish gray but def reads warm. Maybe it reads cooler in person...? How does it compare to the mortar color?

My reaction to your original choice was that it seemed to be yellowish, and I think it should go in the direction of pink because that is the warmth of your brick.

It is a kind of mania now to paint everything gray and charcoal, and I think that will date your home. Your house looks fine now with the bushes gone, so don’t be in a rush to paint it. If there are other houses like yours in the neighborhood, see what you can learn.

I think any original detail on a house gives it character, and I think the woodwork over your garage is exciting! I wouldn’t obliterate it like the previous owners, but you don’t want kitsch either. I’m not sure what I would do. If you are thinking of getting any landscaping help, those pros often have good ideas.

thank you for removing those bushes! I was going to suggest the same thing.

I think if you do the flowerbeds like any of these pictures, it will a make a huge diff in overall curb appeal. (i'll post some house colors next)

you can border the flower bed w/these simple blocks, or some type of edging. use a dark (not that red/brown color!) mulch, bright green foliage, and some flowers

try and do something w/the walkway. you can edge it w/bricks, edging stones, plants, etc.

I like Beth's suggestions, but I don't think you need the stone border. Keep it simple. Make sure you allow enough room for the plants to grow. I like to space the plants to allow about a foot between the edge of the plant and the side of the house. Look for a variety of leaf color and height, as well as, blooming and evergreen bushes. Look for natives that will do well. Also consider an ornamental tree out in the yard to frame the entrance.

Good luck.

here are enough color combos to keep you busy. They all work with your brick and roof color.

I don't think your wood trim dates the house.

If you're doing a dark paint color above the garage doors, then I'd do the lighter color on the garage doors themselves. Both painted that same color of yuk brown isn't doing anything for the home.

just an example of the diff tones around the garage area. you could always remove that trim work and do something like these composite shake/shingles. even in a cedar color would look good

I'd also look into doing some carriage hardware for you doors. black iron.

here's a quick mock up to show you what the light/dark contrast do w/your brick. Also on the entry way. two dark colors is too dark.

I gave you a wood door in this pic, but if you did a dark siding entry way, then choose a lighter door color. Light color siding, do your dark door.

I took away your red door and did a warm wood. also gave you two diff types of vertical address numbers. But look at how nice the garage doors now look. carriage hardware and some pop-in windows on the top row. This is a soft creamy white shade.

here's a black front door w/the creamy white siding on the entry way. you'd paint all of the trim and the upper garage area in this same dark color (look at Iron Ore or Peppercorn)

@Beth H Thank you so much! I absolutely love the paint combos you’ve provided. I would have never thought to do garage doors lighter but absolutely love it. I’ve already picked up color samples & leaning towards the second color combo with the urbane bronze- goes great with brick!
Great landscaping suggestions, I will definitely get dark mulch! Can’t tell you how grateful I am for your help!

@houssaon thank you for direction on plants, now I know what to look for at store!!

Thank you everyone for your help!

Here are some ranch homes that have been limewashed

Do you really want to make your garage doors the outstanding feature of your house? Making them lighter than everything else will do that.

"use a dark (not that red/brown color!) mulch..."

Thank you, Beth! I hate that red/brown mulch. Dark is so much nicer.

ital mover, not necessarily. they won't be an outstanding feature, they will just be a feature that coordinates. you can't hide the doors. they're there. as you can see, painting the entire side one dark shade doesn't really do much, now does it?

Melissa, did another photoshop for you. this is lime washed brick, a composite shake in the gable (remove that dated trim) you don't have to do the little window, and a diff garage door, in a lighter color. with the carriage hardware. imagine if all your brick was done like this

Here's the rest of the house. not quite the same style as yours, but you could do your brick and colors like this. and the landscape

and if garage doors were't meant to be a focal point, why do they make such nice ones?

Melissa, I'd do this w/your place. paint the brick, new garage doors (yes, they're a focal point) and the flower beds w/the stone path. really pretty.

Beverly mentioned painting the brick. I think it's a great option if you really want to update the home. There is a product called Romabio. It's a natural lime product meant for brick. if you use the lime wash (like beverly showed you) you atually have 72 hours to decide if you like or you can hose it off

See what they've done here? it's a lime wash. the board and batten siding was painted in a soft gray (or maybe it's white) tone, light blue door, and charcoal accents.

It's a simple one coat process, no upkeep, and will naturally wear over time. If you want a heavier coverage, they have their Masonry Flat in quite a few colors. check out the Romabio website.

Here's an example where the garage door has been updated to work w/the more modern farmhouse look. you could trim our your windows in the black. notice the flowerbeds. more modern doors. lighting.

same here. brick was painted w/the masonry flat.

the front of this home is almost like yours (ignore the tall entry). This is Cloud White and Black Magic (BM colors)

If you painted the brick in white, trimmed out the windows w/the dark color, updated the garage door, redid your walkway, you'd have this look

BTW, found a similar pic like your brick. it's shown here w/either Peppercorn or Iron Ore. gives you an idea of what it looks like. and the dark garage door trimmed out in a bright white

another option to update your garage door.

as a suggestion, remove what you think is the dated trim over the garage, and around the entryway, and replace it w/the vertical siding or board and batten. would look great over the garage door, in the entry way, and w/your brick, especially if you painted it all one color

Beth, I just have to disagree. Even the photo shows that painting the entire facade of the garage in light colors makes the house itself recede and makes the garage stick out enormously.

The original brick house is really very nice and low maintenance. I agree with the original poster that the brown was unattractive. Normally I never argue with other poster’s suggestions, but this this time I suggest the poster think long and hard about altering her big investment with so permanent a change as lime-washing the brick that is warm and inviting and appropriate to the style of the house.

@Melissa M I really like the color palette with urbane bronze you mention! I think the brick is lovely and would caution before altering the brick to some fad. Consider putting all your ideas in project phases, such as clean up/shrub removal, power wash, entryway door, all painting, landscape, decor. Consider widening the landing that leads onto the entryway since the cement doesn't match the width of the entryway. After you paint the entryway area, you might consider painting the cement in just the entryway area if power washing it didn't clean it up to your liking. Also, I notice a gutter downspout in the entryway area, not sure if it's buried or above ground, you'll want to check what's going on there. What an exciting project, will be lovely!!

Hi again Melissa

I came back to say to you and everyone that I feel 100% certain everybody posting wants you to end up happy with your house, and even though there are opposing suggestions, you are the one who can see the whole neighborhood, how the light hits your house, and whether you like the back side of the house now, so maybe that tells you something. It really is up to you.

I also wanted to add that quality of workmanship will be very important if you decide to make a “forever” alteration to your entire house like lime-washing. You need to be energetic about collecting recommendations and actually visiting some finished jobs. Bear in mind that companies hire a lot of unskilled labor seasonally, so who runs a tight ship with high standards is what you need to find out. You need a guarantee you’ll be delivered the results you want before the workers set foot on your lawn.

Like I said before, it’s a nice warm house, unpretentious with a touch of exuberance above the garage. Neating up to help it be more of what it wants to be is the place to start, sez me — and it’s up to you.

Hi! Just a quick non-paint-related idea... those recessed front door alleys can get a little cave-like, even when painted in a light color. If you have it in the budget, I'd recommend adding a ceiling fixture or two. Nothing ornate... flat panel LED lights are inexpensive, suitable for damp areas, and look very similar to recessed fixtures without having the same potential placement complications a real recessed fixture brings. You could even get them with bronze trim to match your preferred paint scheme! Here's an example: LED wafer-thin light. An updated wall fixture, a fun doormat, and a pretty potted plant (probably fake due to light and water conditions) and your entry would be much more welcoming. I think someone may have changed the swing on the front door at some point... generally, the wall fixture would be on the same side as the doorknob so you can see what you're doing when you're trying to unlock the front door. If you do change the wall fixture, make sure you find one that casts a good circle of light rather than one designed to cast the light straight down or up/down.

By the way, I like the brick and I like the trim over the garage doors! I think what might be throwing you off is that the house probably had flat-panel garage doors when it was built and they were swapped out sometime after.

ital mover, no problem. we all have our opinions. Ultimately it's her choice. what I like to do is show people what's available, and what options they have. That's why I post so many pictures w/diff color alternatives. I want people to be able to see what they can do, and then choose.

If you read my first comment I didn't suggest she paint the brick. It was only after Beverly mentioned it and then the OP was thinking about it that I brought in my second comment w/painted brick options. Romabio is a one coat process that can actually be washed off within the first 72 hours. so she could try it on one side and see how it looks. don't like it? hose it off.

Application is simple and easier than painting a house. I'm sure any professional house painting company could do it proficiently. Not every one hires unskilled laborers!

It's not really a 'forever' option" . the lime washing wears with time. Naturally. It may not look like it does right now again, but it will wear and get a natural patina to it.

I don't care for the multi-color brick, but that's me. And I hate brown and I hate red. lol. So, yeah, I have a lot of suggestions to update her house! I'm guessing she's not particularly fond of it either since she's here asking for help.

but hey, keep the brick as is, and get rid of the brown, do some landscaping. take it a step at a time and she can stop when she feels she's happy w/the look.

Again, they're just options. I'm not holding a gun to her head!

I would suggest you refresh the landscaping, there are several easy maintenance things you can do with a mix of grasses, shrubs including white or pink hibiscus to make the shrubs stand out..

Jackowskib that inconsistency has bothered me from the day I moved in!!! It’s on my list! Thank you for suggestion to paint cement!

Donna Collins absolutely love the lights you linked, thank you! Didn’t even know this was possible and it will make me feel much more safe at night to have well lit entry. Thank you!

Beth H - I actually purchased some of the small quart size of Romabio lime wash in three different colors long before posting on here!! Thank you so so much for all the wonderful information you’ve provided & photos.

Thank you Ital mover for your feedback, like you many have expressed their love for the original brick! It’s a tough choice but I’m grateful to have several different options!

Lisedv- WOW! Amazing what the landscaping does for the curb appeal. Thank you so much for the photos! My favorite is the second!

I’m so grateful to everyone who has provided suggestions & feedback! I’m loving the variety of ideas!! Thank you for contributing your time to help me transform my home!