Have you looked at white washing or line washing? Painting doesn’t let the brick breathe and it turns a no-maintenance material into ongoing upkeep (you’ll have to periodically re-paint forever). White and lime washing are more forgiving as it’s more a “coating” than an impermeable to layer.

There's nothing special about the original color of that brick. But of course people will be vehemently and irrationally opposed to changing anything original. The brick color is not that pretty and the hot climate would support your case for a lighter color. However, Joseph's point is an interesting one.

As mentioned, you don't use acrylic paint on brick unless you want to deal with peeling in the future. Use Limewash designed to allow the brick to breathe. You can apply it full bodied or let some of the brick color come through so the home looks more vintage in appearance.

The home needs about $5-$10k in new landscaping, and the driveway condition addressed. Don't forget to add that to the budget

I think painting it white would look nice.

Bricks don’t need to breathe. They don’t have lungs. A soft sage green for the siding would be pretty, and wrap the posts with natural wood, and a new garage door that mimics the natural wood. The brick color is nice, it’s probably easier to work with it rather than paint it. I had ugly brick and painted it and have no regrets.

I really don't understand the cultural shift where something as classical as a plain red brick has become "ugly". Of course maybe this goes hand in hand with the grotesque results of plastic surgery that are considered to be beautiful currently.

There is not a thing ugly about the house in the OP other than the fact that it doesn't look like it was remodeled yesterday, which is how everything is supposed to look I guess.

No. Brick is for the most part no-maintenance. You can spruce up your exterior in other ways. The brick color is classic and easy to work with.

I wonder if the people on this board who sing the praises of painting brick ever owned a house with painted brick? I have. Sure it looks great for a while, then as the years creep on and the elements continue their wear and tear, it starts flaking, peeling, and generally looking not so great. This is why I do not recommend painting brick.

Please don’t paint it white. I live in an older neighborhood that consists of two streets and too many people have painted their homes white. i remember right after one neighbor painted their brick white another neighbor a few doors down from them ran to the paint store and the next day had his house painted white. i used to love a classic white house, but unfortunately it became a trend.

IMO the fastest way to devalue your home is to paint the brick. I think a nice color for the siding and garage door will have a much bigger impact than painting the brick You have a nice MCM ranch play up that style with great landscaping and a new siding color. This is one of my faves for landscaping , simple and easy to care for. You could even use artificail grass for easier care. I like the dark gray in the pic but a nice sage green can aslo be very nice looking for the siding

Please do not paint the brick. Its a very nice looking house, just the way it is. The landscaping needs a lot of attention. Most of what is there, should be removed, and new planted. Have a landscape designer design the front planting beds, and then, you can work on them over time, if you cant do it all at once. I also agree, front yard, needs a few trees. Smaller trees that bloom, would be very nice there.

You have a beautiful home that just needs a little change to create a more updated elevated look. You have the good fortune to have a gable in the front. Depending on what you like you could make this looks larger with wood and make the columns bigger too. Are you leaning toward a mid-mod update or a farmhouse update? Patricia Colwell Consult... had a great idea if you want to go the Mid-Mod look. But if you are thinking modern farm house you might like these ideas below.

Here are some images that could give you ideas.

I love this FB page from Brick and Batten. Wonderful ideas. I bet you could post your question on there and they would give you some ideas. https://www.facebook.com/brickandbatten

Here is a great blog showing how one couple increased their columns

https://www.makingmanzanita.com/porch-posts-curb-appeal/

From Making Manzinitas

This one below involves paint. But you can do the same updates without painting the brick. Rather update the columns, paint the shutters and door.

From Shades of Blue Interiors

https://www.shadesofblueinteriors.com/home-exterior-makeover-for-less-than-3500/

From Remodel-Aholic https://www.remodelaholic.com/ranch-home-curb-appeal-real-life-rooms/

Now to the question of paint, or limestone or stain or schmear... I think you need to really evaluate your budget. If you do paint, stain, limestone you want to hire a professional with experience. What dates a house fast is a poor quality paint or stain update.

IMO, the brick is the nicest thing about that house. I'd paint the siding and garage door a darkish slatey blue and the front door a light slatey blue. I'd get rid of the shutters. A white house will make the dark windows look like black holes.

Leave the brick and paint the trim a different color. White is too stark. I'd go with a dark charcoal gray or a sage green.

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Poppleton Park, Birmingham, MI Exterior Makeover · More Info

Agree, too, with the previous poster about beefing up your front posts.

Your brick actually look good.

Here is visual with painted brick

You can go with wooden/cedar columns and porch as well.

here's an important question for the OP: do you like the look of your brick or would you prefer a lighter color. If you prefer a lighter color and if making it a lighter color (with something that allows it to breathe I guess) would result in more efficient cooling in a hot climate, then why wouldn't you do it? You don't need to listen to people who want to hang onto everything that is more than 10 years old because they think it's classic. you just need to make sure that you like it and that you apply the proper application for brick. FWIW, I do like the look of painted brick. I also like the look of unpainted brick, but only in much older homes than yours. Like Chicago bungalows.

I hated the brick on our house and painted it several years ago. I also painted the brick and concrete blocks at my husband's office about 8-10 years ago. There has not been a problem with either building, and I have not had to repaint. I went to the Sherwin Williams store and used primer and paint for brick/masonery buildings. Using the proper product is key.

The color of the house does not impact the interior temperature of the house because the house has layers of insulating materials between the layer of brick and the interior of the house.

I live in a painted masonry house that was painted long before I moved in, probably 20 years ago. The back, which is not accessible except through the house (so it's not visible from the street) may not have been repainted since the house was built in 1965 or 1966. The paint is still intact.

There is a concrete block wall surrounding the rear yard, and it was painted to put the house on the market and that paint started to fail immediately. I could eventually peel it off with my hands. This tells me that you just have to use the right sort of paint.

You have to do the right sort of prep for the right sort of paint to adhere in the right weather conditions. My small 45 year old ugly brick house was in good condition, and it still took 2 days of cleaning and prep before priming.

The color of the house CAN impact the interior temperature in older homes. From the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory:

"'Repainting the exterior walls of pre-1980 buildings – whether homes or office buildings or stores – with cool paint offers the greatest benefit because they have the least insulation,' Levinson said. 'And that’s not difficult to do. There are many light-colored cool paints in local home supply stores.'

While there is not yet a formal, universal definition for cool walls, Levinson suggests that lower-performance cool walls should reflect at least 40% of solar energy, while higher-performance cool walls should reflect at least 60%. The study assumed that an average wall that is not cool reflects 25% of sunlight."

But it also goes on to say

"Light-colored walls are coolest, but pigments that reflect the invisible half of sunlight and pigments that fluoresce can be used to make cool paints in a wide range of colors."

so you're not necessarily limited to lighter colors.

https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2019/07/09/cool-walls-can-reduce-energy-costs-pollution/

No. The house looks great as is.

Did you make a decision? Are you painting the brick?

Choosing a color is so difficult!

You have a lovely classic home, except for those homemade ”shutters.” Proper shutters can look nice but those are just foolish. (I see you’ve removed them. Good.)

The driveway, sidewalk, and landscaping all need attention. And the porch posts which look like toothpicks.

If you really want to change the brick, go with some kind of brick wash, not regular house paint. Be sure the brick is cleaned thoroughly and repaired (if necessary) first.

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Thank you for all your kind suggestions. Due to illness, home projects are on hold for a bit. The shutters I removed were metal and beyond repair, though I feel fortunate as some of my neighbors have shutters that are cement attached to the house and not removable. We are still considering limewash but haven't made a final decision as we don't hate the brick and it isn't an emergency. The renditions that have been shared are very nice and have given me food for thought. Again, many thanks!

So sorry to hear of what you’re dealing with and hope everything improves soon. ❤️