Painting the brick was a mistake. Have the brick soda blasted. It’s flat and lifeless without that natural element. More paint will not cure that.

Thank you for your feedback. I’ve received mixed opinions on painting brick. We didn’t paint the brick at first and we didn’t like how it looked. The house had multiple shades of brown which doesn’t help with the look we are trying to accomplish.

which doesn’t help with the look we are trying to accomplish.

What look is that?

Getting rid of the old brown look and into an more modern farmhouse style.

It was a poop brown though lol

I'd focus on the landscaping. Make sure the trim goes with the roof. My guess would be gray and brown don't. You might try a shade of green. I'm not a fan of the horizontal trim line between the brick and the siding. I'd paint it to match the brick.

If you want cedar, I’d go with white windows:

Or no cedar, no gray anything … just classic black with white.

This looks good, too.

https://www.southernliving.com/home/birmingham-rancher-renovation?slide=5e7f5216-3195-45ec-ac08-37f2a7bf23b9#5e7f5216-3195-45ec-ac08-37f2a7bf23b9

Those are just very general color ideas, as they’re all different styles.

The ”modern farmhouse” trend is on the downswing. Unless it’s a look you really, really love, I’d go in a more organic direction. The pictures above have a much more calm and cohesive look than brown roof/white painted siding/white painted brick/cedar accents/black windows/charcoal trim. That’s a lot of different colors and materials.

I don’t think this looks good. And it would look even worse with a reddish brown roof:

Updated landscaping would make a huge difference, too.

Your house lacks the structure to make it into a "modern farmhouse".

Try working working with what you have -- like the brown roof, or commit to changing everything to create a new look.

Your house has (had) plenty of potential.

Holms on Homes says to never paint brick but stain it instead.

Well, black windows, dont go with your roof, and shutters etc, so you would be better off with white. The trouble with all this, is you are just doing things, as you think of them, and dont have a plan to work with, or a picture photoshopped before you do something. I dislike the painted brick too. Sometimes, I do like brick painted, when it is lower brick, like you have, but, not on your house. You have taken away all personality, and your house now appears boring and flat. I dont know anything about soda blasting, but, if there is any chance, it would remove that paint, I would certainly want it done. If you wanted black windows, then, you should have had black or another darker color (except brown) for shutters, and the roof should have been replaced to a charcoal. This is where a plan comes in, and a visit to some of the paint online websites, where you can put a photo of your house, and try different colors, so you get a cohesive pretty look.

Have the brick paint removed asap, loose the obviously fake and undersized shutter removed from the large window on the right, landscaping and something decorative on the porch.

Since you have clearly said the brown roof is staying, all your decisions going forward should be based on the brown roof.

No black, charcoal, blue, etc etc. Pick things that go with brown. Don’t forget about white.

I don’t care for the different-colored belt around the house. Looks cheap to me.

I think it looks much better painted! It looked so brown, drab, and dated before. I agree about painting that horizontal line white…it chops up the house. I think stained shutters and a stained front door would help with the roof!

Your ranch is never going to be a modern farmhouse. And painting the brick was a mistake for 2 reasons:

1. paint on brick is a maintenance pain and can actually lead to degradation of the brick since it seals the pores. https://masonryadvisorycouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Staining-Brick-Masonry.pdf
2. that colour is just wrong on your brick.

Your brick only looked "poop brown" because the siding was yellow. So first, get that paint off of it and save yourself future maintenance woes. Then, if you still don't like the dark foundation with a your new alabaster siding, investigate a proper masonry stain for your brick. But not white. Something darker than your siding to ground and anchor your home.

Cancel the black windows and charcoal trim. Have a look at the SW Alabaster page for co-ordinating colours. Something like SW Half Caff might work.

But before you choose anything new, collect samples of all your current materials-- brown shingle, Alabaster paint, cedar sheathing and put them side by each, preferably outside so the lighting will be correct. Put them somewhere you can see them often. And each time you walk by for the next week or so, look at them and think about how they go (or don't go) together. Then, if you're satisfied that the cedar is a good idea, add some colour samples for trim and repeat the process. Take away any sample that looks off. Once a sample is eliminated, throw it away. The fact that it might be ok in some lights does not negate it's "off-ness" in others.

You should be able to come to solid conclusions about colour inside a week. If you were a professional, you could do it much faster. But that's why they are professionals. Us mere mortals are better off choosing colours based on experiencing them together in the space where they will live.

We had our custom brick home painted when we built it 11 years ago. The painters used masonry paint. We have not had a single issue with it, nor have we had to do any maintenance to the brick painr. It looks just like it did 11 years ago. If I had a dollar for every time we heard, ”oh, you’ll regret it…brick shouldn’t be painted…it will chip off…yada yada,” I’d have my vacation home purchased by now, lol.

Yeah, I think this brick is fine painted*. It’d be costly and labor intensive to remove and any kind of blasting can be a risk on old brick.

(Note I said ”can be” before I get examples of 110 yr old buildings in Brooklyn that were just fine after blasting.)

Anyway, I don’t see this brick as being precious, and I think it can be worked with here.

.

*Something I rarely say. ;)

The painters used masonry paint.

Exactly. Not regular house paint.

Jinx, I tend to agree and im one who is always arguing in favor of the brick! Its likely the brick is not an integral part of the structure but only a veneer as was typical in modest 1950s houses. This could be removed/replaced with siding at some point.

So for better or worse OP you have a brown and white house. Kinda looks like the yellow of the siding slightly showing through, do you need a second coat? Make trim and windows the same color - whether thats black or white or some other color. Trim is too skinny almost non existant,, not worth accentuating.

Limit house to 3 colors. If trim + windows are white or brown, then your third color i.e. the accent could be your front door - the right eggplant or purple can be stunning in combination with browns. If trim+windows are black, have black be your 10% accent color, with the cedar or wood tone doors and/or shutters to harmonize with your roof.

Nini - maybe your guy used correct type of breathable paint - if so thats good! Or maybe your climate is warmer and you dont have the freeze-thaw issues that many of us have. Or maybe your climate is dryer so you dont have moisture/mold issues. Too many variables to make a blanket statement! The caveats and warnings about brick painting given here on this forum are generally for the benefit of the DIY noob or professionals they hire who arent as informed as they should be.

Getting rid of the old brown look and into an more modern farmhouse style.

Your house is not a modern farmhouse (which is an oxymoron). It's a 50's ranch and was a nice one at that. Instead of trying to remuddle it like you're doing, embrace what it is and make it an updated version of what it was and is.

That means no black windows either.

No charcoal trim.

And yes, see if you can remove the paint from the brick.

And do NOT wrap the posts in cedar. All of that is major remuddling.

Instead take the time to learn about the wonderful house you have and how to correcty enhance it because what you're doing is not helping at all.