Exterior Paint Colors that Go With Red Brick
Selecting the ideal exterior paint colors to pair with a red brick home can be an exciting yet challenging process. With so many factors to weigh and color options to evaluate, it's crucial to have a strategy when embarking on this endeavor. Approaching this project armed with key considerations and popular color recommendations will ensure you ultimately choose a palette that enhances your home's curb appeal.
Before diving into specific paint colors, it's wise to first reflect on what you hope the exterior colors will achieve. Determining the look and feel you want to create will help guide your decisions. For example, do you want to boldly accentuate the red brick or take a more subtle approach by blending with soft, neutral tones? Defining this vision early on is essential.
Consider Key Factors When Selecting Exterior Paint Colors
The process of selecting exterior paint colors for a red brick house involves carefully evaluating several key factors. First, consider your home's architectural style and overall aesthetic. For traditional craftsman or farmhouse designs, earthy tones like sage green often compliment red brick nicely. More modern homes may pair well with grayish hues for a sleeker look. Additionally, be sure to assess the amount of natural sunlight your home receives, as this can impact how bright or subdued you may want to go with the colors.
Another critical consideration is personal color preference. While suggestions and inspiration from experts can be helpful jumping-off points, at the end of the day you will be the one looking at the home so selecting colors you genuinely love is crucial. Start by spending some time curating inspiration images and paint swatches in hues that appeal to you. This can include existing colors from architectural details on your home like shutters or trim, your landscaping and surroundings, or just attractive combinations you've come across in your research. Keep in mind that exterior paint projects require significant time and resource investment, so the colors should deeply resonate with you.
Key Factors Checklist When Selecting Exterior Brick Paint Colors:
- Architectural home style and aesthetic
- Amount of sunlight exposure and natural light
- Personal color preferences and inspiration
- Existing exterior features like trim, shutters, etc.
- Surrounding landscape and environmental factors
Popular Paint Colors that Complement Red Brick Exteriors
When evaluating paint colors to pair with red brick, the options span a wide gamut across various hues and tones. But there are several shades that designers and color experts consistently recommend as foolproof complements to the inherent richness and warmth of red brick. These include various earth tones like browns, beiges, and greens that mirror nature's color palette. Soft pastels like sage green, light yellow, robin's egg blue, and muted purple also tend to work nicely with red brick, allowing the brick to anchor the softer tones. Lastly, whites and other extremely light neutral colors like gray can provide high contrast next to the deeper brick.
Top Paint Color Suggestions for Red Brick Homes:
- Earth tones: tans, taupes, light brown, sage green
- Neutral shades: gray, greige, beige, very soft blue
- Pastels: faded yellow, light robin's egg blue, muted purple
- White/off white
Incorporating one dominant neutral or earth-toned paint color for the siding or exterior walls will allow the red brick to pop as the prominent visual feature. You can then introduce additional accent colors with smaller detailing like the front door, window treatments, shutters, or other ornamentation. Contrasting those elements with dark navy, crimson red, black, or bright white against the brick adds further dimension.
Strategic Use of Paint Color to Accentuate Red Brick
Carefully selecting accent paint colors and strategically applying them are key tactics for accentuating red brick exteriors. While the brick itself will be the captivating focal point, consider using accent colors to enhance specific architectural details or features. For example, painting window frames in a bold, high contrast shade like black or navy blue makes them stand out crisply against red brick walls. Additionally, selecting a brighter, intensified hue like crimson red or cobalt blue for the front door immediately draws the eye thanks to the complementary color dynamics next to the brick.
For homes with existing neutral siding or panels, painting the trim or fascia around the brick an attention-grabbing accent color is highly effective. This could include painting the trim black or a bright white to create delineation from red brick walls, or selecting a complementing earth tone slightly lighter or darker than the brick itself as the trim color to unify the scheme. Even just painting the front porch decking in a darker complementary color to the red brick creates nice visual contrast.
Paint Color Accent Strategies to Spotlight Red Brick:
- Use deep navy blue or black window frames
- Choose bright, bold red or blue for entry doors
- Sage green trim against dark earth-toned brick
- Crisp white trim around lighter red bricks
As a final step to perfecting your exterior paint colors against red brick walls, take a holistic perspective. Evaluate how all the colors work collectively to create an appealing, eye-catching first impression of your home. The colors should coordinate, not clash. Attempt to strike a balance of complementary hues that add depth and dimension while avoiding seeming too busy or random. Anchor lighter accent colors with darker brick walls and introduce multiple compatible colors for extra visual interest.
Refer back to the initial vision and aesthetic you sought to achieve. Do the colors align with the architectural style you wanted to accentuate? Does the color palette create enough contrast against the red brick while still feeling unified? Take advantage of natural light at various times of day to observe how the brick and paint colors interact. And don't shy away from seeking a second objective opinion from family, friends, or neighbors. With a thoughtful, strategic approach, you're sure to create an exterior paint scheme that spotlight your home's irresistible curb appeal.