12 of the Best Paint Colors To Go With Red Brick

Dear Laurel

We have a red brick ranch home that we have been renovating on the inside for the last 20 years and thanks to you, we have done a great job!

I wonder if you could do a post on exterior colors for RED BRICK homes. I don’t mean to yell, it’s just that I see so many examples of exterior paint ideas where either there is no brick, or the brick is painted.

 

One issue is that I don’t know if we should even consider painting exterior brick, or just the trim. My husband isn’t so keen on it, because what if we hate it?

 

If we keep the brick as is, at the very least we must do the trim, shutters, and three outbuildings/ garages that are near the house. I’m completely lost. The brick is throwing me off. We live on 40 acres and we also have a lot of white horse fence in front of and around the house, so I feel like that should also be factored into our decision.

I can send you a picture if you’d like, but either way please consider doing another exterior paint post with houses that are red brick, pretty please!! Or, specifically the best paint colors to go with red brick

Thanks so much for considering!!

MJM

 

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Hi Everyone and thank you for sending in this request MJ!

Oh, I had such huge ambitions for this post. Alas, I am going to listen to my inner mother and break it up in two parts.

 

In Part I, we will address the best paint colors to go with red brick. That is, red brick on exterior.

 

The colors that go with stained wood trim inside also look good with red brick. Here are 16 to check out.

 

Part II, I would like to discuss specific techniques for changing the color of the brick.

 

Painting is one method, but it is not the only one. Nor, is it always advisable to use paint. I would prefer if you save comments for Part II until that post comes out.

Instead, if you have some suggestions for painting the trim and out buildings, AND keeping the red brick as is, that would be awesome.

Of course, I have my own opinions on the matter.

 

So, let’s first take a look at MJs gorgeous home and property.

 

The front facade

A tool shed? And, maybe the garage further back.

 

The garage with some paint samples.

One possibility is painting the garage all one color like Benjamin Moore Anchor Gray, a beautiful classic charcoal gray.

However, they could also keep the doors and the trim white, as well.

Stables? Oh my!!!

 

Another view of the front.

 

If this were my home, I would DEFINITELY paint it. However, it’s not my home. ;]

A few other things, if I may, on my wish list would be to change the columns to square with a simple capital.

This is some sort of stylized Corinthian capital and doesn’t feel in keeping with the rest of the home which is quite classic. I don’t know if they were part of the renovation and it’s not a big deal if they stay. Just saying what my preference is for this home.

In addition, I would love to see a beautiful railing on the porch. Actually, that’s a separate topic.

 

However, this post is an excellent for inspiration for some of my favorite house exterior colors.

 

I also might like to see a railing going down the stairs.

For now, though, let’s focus on the best paint colors if keeping the red brick.

The roofs are a charcoal gray, so I’d like to stay with those cool tones.

 

The part that’s bugging me a little however, is the white gable.

 

The reason is that if feels like too much white in a house that is not white. But, maybe I just need more sleep. And, I would need a few days to figure out if it could be something else. That is, if they keep the red brick.

One thing that’s difficult to tell is the shade of white. But, it feels a little stark to me. However, it’s one of the most common exterior painting issues.

Most of the time, colors look brighter and whiter on the exterior than they do inside. And what looks like a soft white inside, can be blindingly bright outside.

Above is a red brick wall. Of course, there are variations on this. But, this one is pretty common for an older home.

Some of my favorite whites with red brick are:

Benjamin Moore White Dove oc-17 is one of my favorite shades of white paint. It is probably as light as I would go if using with red brick.

 

house beautiful Dove Wing trim – photo Victoria Pearson – designer – Kristen Panitch

 

Above is Benjamin Moore Dove Wing oc-18 which you can see is a little deeper

 

Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee oc-45 is another beautiful shade of white paint with red brick

 

Ballet White -oc 9 would never be mistaken for white inside, but outside, it generally looks to be a beautiful shade of creamy white which is beautiful with red brick.

 

stellablackmon – westvillage – via a cupofjo

 

To go with the white on a red brick house, I always want to see some black. In fact, it can be very sharp to only do black accents with the red brick. However, we have other buildings to consider. So, I think it would be terrific to do a dark cool gray with the black.

Below are some inspiration shots to convey what I have in mind in terms of paint colors. Although, what’s there is very much in keeping with that.

 

via House and Home

 

via @townhousedujour on instagram

 

Soot by Benjamin Moore is one of my favorite cool shades of black that is really more of a navy.

 

 

Via Addison’s Wonderland.

This is a combination of soot and witching hour. But, it looks more like soot alone. But, in any case a very handsome home. The white here is dove wing. You can see another shot of this home here.

 

Above and below are two more favorite dark gray/black colors.

They are both in the Laurel Home paint and palette collection

 

 

Sometimes it’s nice to paint the front door a coordinating color. One of the best with rusty brick is its complementary shade of blue.

 

via @door_doork on instagram blue door

This looks a lot like Benjamin Tranquil Blue

 

 

That was featured in this post about some of my favorite shades of medium blue.

A fun option might be to paint the door one of these shades of blue.

 

I could also see painting the door a color like another beautiful mid-tone blue withe more gray, Wythe Blue.

 

 

Above is Benjamin Moore Wythe Blue cw-590

 

Note: Because this color is made by Benjamin Moore, ;] and they have too many colors, (IMO) And, someone was asleep (or drunk) there are two Wythe Blues. One is a historical collection color and this one is from their Williamsburg collection which is newer.

I wonder how many times someone goes to the store ordering “Wythe Blue” and gets the Wythe they don’t know exists in a different fan deck.

The other Wythe Blue is the above hc-144. You can see that color inside this beautiful home featured a little over a year ago. It is also a pretty color, but a little more green and slightly lighter.

 

One other option which I think would add some zing to this facade would be to paint the door red.

 

Reds can be tricky, but the consensus amongst dozens of designers is that THE red for exterior front doors is Benjamin Moore Heritage Red.

For some of my favorite red paint colors click here.

 

via Victoria Elizabeth Barnes blog – Heritage Red front door

A fabulous post full of inspiring front door images.

 

Benjamin Moore Heritage Red 2000-10 or PM-18

 

If you’d like to see my post on front door colors, click here.

 

Michelle Marceny who is a fabulous color designer and color specialist AND has been so supportive of this blog has written another superb post about the best paint colors to go with red brick.

You can find it here.

In addition, I believe that she does long distance color consults. So, if you’re looking for that kind of help, I’d recommend contacting her.

Otherwise, the majority of the colors I’ve specified in this post are in the Laurel Home Essential Paint and Palette Collection which you can read about here.

In the comments, let’s talk about colors that you love with red brick.

Of course, there are other colors that I like too, but sticking with the cool blacks, dark grays as above is always a pretty sure thing.

However, I’m looking forward to exploring painting options which would then serve to unify all of the buildings. And, I think the house will look better as well.

 

Didn’t you say that you don’t want to discuss painting the brick, Laurel?

 

Yes, I did. Therefore, please do as I say, not as I do. ;]

 

 

Closing with a beautiful shot of MJ’s exquisite property.

 

xo,

 

 

PS: Please check out the newly updated hot sales. If you missed it, there are dozens of new items this week and EVERYTHING at Serena and Lily is 20% off!!!

Somebody reminded me about the Benjamin Moore Personal Color Viewer

Theoretically, you can put your own room in the viewer, but it works much better with their images if you can find one similar to your room.

Above is the Elms Home from the Color Viewer. I’m not in love with their colors.

The one below is one I did that I prefer. The body color mimics a red brick color.

 

cottage red, van courtland blue door, black shutters, Dove Wing (trim)

 

cloud white trim – china white – body – Heritage Red Door

And below is a similar one with a different shade of Benjamin Moore White Paint

 

Benjamin Moore – white dove – body – simply white trim – heritage red – door – black iron shutters

As you can see, there isn’t a lot of difference, so still you’ll need to test.

 

Benjamin Moore Door Buckland Blue – house white dove – trim simply white

Same colors with a clue door.

Oh, they’re both so lovely. Can we have two doors? ;]

 

And now, get ready for a big change.

 

Some may recall that I’ve always loved Martha Stewart’s homes in Katonah, NY.

 

Well, Chelsea Gray looks very close!

Chelsea Gray, of course, is one of the 144 beautiful colors in the Laurel Home curated paint and palette collection

 

benjamin moore barnwood csp 115 is also nice. Here, they look very close.

I love this tool! It’s free and it really does help one visualize how a color will look in your home.