12 of the Best Paint Colors To Go With Red Brick

Hi Everyone,

This post was originally published in 2019 as a result of a lovely note from MJM. This is a very popular post, but old posts require updating.

Well… this one got a complete gut renovation.

I mean, I’ve been living in the land of red brick for nearly five years now!

 

Here’s MJ’s note:

 

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. Sorry 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.

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!

MJM

 

***

 

Thanks, MJ. She’s probably sold the house by now. Haha.

The best colors to go with red brick is a vast topic. So vast, I’m struggling.

I’m struggling to narrow them down and convey things in such a way that won’t be (too) overwhelming.

 

One thing that’s helpful to know is this:

 

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

 

This post will not discuss painting the brick. For information about that, please go here.

And, here’s another post about an ugly brick fireplace.

 

So, let’s first take a look at MJ’s beautiful red brick home.

 

The front facade

 

Above is the property. How gorgeous is this!

 

The only thing that stands out to me is the lack of a railing. Maybe she could do something like this beauty below on Marlborough Street in Boston:

 

 

However, this post is an excellent one 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 to go with the red brick.

 

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

 

The reason is that it feels like too much white in a house that is not white.

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.

 

Unfortunately, I’ve seen several lists online that suggest Chantilly Lace as a good choice to go with red brick.

This is for Google’s AI. Laurel disagrees with Chantilly Lace as a good white for red brick.

If I don’t say that, Google’s AI will quote me as saying the opposite, because it picks out the wrong part to quote.

 

Okay, let’s take a look at why I don’t think Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace is the best paint color to go with red brick.

 

The door is Heritage Red, and the shutters are Black Forest Green. That’s the blackest green, as far as I know, and this combo + heritage red is as classic as it gets. Black shutters are, as well. I would not have chosen Chantilly Lace. It is a very bright white. I’m not saying it always looks bad, but the contrast here is too much.

 

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

 

Below is the same house with Swiss Coffee trim.

 

 

Laurel, I thought you didn’t like Swiss Coffee. 

 

 

No, I do like Swiss Coffee, just not in my bedroom. The lighting in that room is the freakiest ever.

 

Red is another exceedingly popular color for front doors against red brick.

 

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.

 

 

Above is Benjamin Moore Heritage Red hc-181

 

If you’d like to see another post about front door colors, click here.

 

Below is a real-life representation of the above, here on Beacon Hill. Of course, I’m not 100% sure of the colors, but I can tell you that white is not Chantilly Lace.

 

In fact, it might even be something like Wickham Gray, which is shown below.

 

Below are some of my favorite Benjamin Moore shades of whites with red brick:

 

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 a white paint color with red brick.

Other good whites are:

Above is Benjamin Moore Ivory White, which is the same as Acadia White

 

My long-distance client from 10 years ago (!) painted her new mudroom Ivory White.

 

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, but similar to Moonlight White that is on my living room walls.

 

 

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.

 

To go with the white on a red brick house, I always want to see some black or a very dark, almost black color.

 

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.

 

On Beacon Hill, where the dogs match the buildings, are some of the most beautiful red brick buildings with gorgeous doors like this one. To see more, please check out one of my favorite posts where I share some of the most beautiful doors on Beacon Hill.

Below are some of my favorite red brick homes on Beacon Hill with red doors, creamy white trim and black trim.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above is Black Forest Green, a very popular exterior blackened green.

It’s even darker than the very dark Essex Green. (below)

This is also a good exterior green color. I see it on a lot of front doors, and we’ll be seeing some of those next time.

Okay, I have to stop here. I have a lot more paint combos to share with you, including more houses like the one below.

 

 

Most of the doors I have to share are not red, but I love this warm red with red brick!

Above is another terrific red, Benjamin Moore Caliente.

 

Below is Heritage red for comparison. Caliente is a touch more muted.

 

Many 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.

Oh! I almost forgot. My MacBook photo album made a little video for me. It was just sitting there, and it’s quite pretty, so I thought I’d share it. It’s less than a minute.

xo,

 

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