How about a white door and garage door and then a rich color for the house hard to tell with the picture if something in the red family would work

The existing color seems on the brown side. I have found that a grey color similar to the mortar joints works well. Whatever you do, paint the garage door to match. Right now it looks like a big black hole. Because your front door is recessed and dark as well, you cannot see the detail. Consider a lighter color there..

A carriage style white garage door would look good. If that's not in the budget, what about charcoal gray siding and paint the garage to match? The front door could be a lighter gray or white.

Thanks for the suggestions/comments. A new garage door and front door are in the future, but not in the budget at this time. The front door porch is very dark (and kinda hidden), I agree. Our roof is in the brown family so going too gray just doesn't match and the roof is in excellent condition, so that has to stay. Any thoughts on painting the brick? I have never had painted brick and would generally stay away from it but in this case where the brick is pink (icky....) I wouldn't hesitate if it would last. I've also thought about adding trim to the windows.....

I'm sorry, for some reason the roof looked gray to me. I agree with pp that suggested matching the garage door to the siding. I don't know about painting brick outdoors. You may need a professional to get it right.

I love painted brick. I don't, however, think that your brick is bad. If you decide to paint it, go with the highest quality paint that you can afford. If done well, it is not any more maintenance than any other painted surface. I can see a pretty light putty color. That would blend well with the roof and any number of accent colors. Your house almost has a Victorian vibe with the peak and bay window. You could play up the lines and go a different color on the eaves and trim and a bright front door. Have fun.

Painting brick is always an option and one I love, but this question will open up a running diatribe against those who advocate painting brick by those who think one should never, ever.

Let's hope that there are no diatribes. We can all just agree to disagree. Personal taste.

We can only hope!

Agreed! No diatribes! I have my father for that!

I like the putty color idea and I'm totally open to adding accent colors. My main goal is to freshen it up, make it actually look planned and help match it to the other new homes (mainly craftsman) in the neighborhood. As for the landscape (or lack of) it's on it's way. Going to wait until the painters leave. The entire project is going to be done by professionals as its a deep-3-story home and is too big for me to tackle.

Please post pictures when you are finished. Don't be too hard on your Dad. I swear the "don't paint brick or wood" is in the male chromosome!

New carriage style garage door with iron hardware would be cool. Maybe something like this over the garage door to soften the tall gable?

Here's another example. Easy DIY project, trellis with knee braces?

the trellis looks like a great idea

lynngorey, yes, I use the trellis trick when dealing with dominant "massing"over garage doors! In this example going with a nice door (or at least a lighter color) and getting a vine or climbing rose on the trellis over the door could help reduce the large forehead!

I don't want to step on any toes, but painting brick is not just a matter of personal taste. Brick masonry is not a waterproof material, actually its more like a sponge. If you live in a part of the country where the temperature gets down to or below freezing then it is definitely not a good idea to paint your brick. What happens is that the paint tends to restrict the moisture in the wall from draining and evaporating and then when the temperature drops the moisture/water in the wall freezes. We all know that water expands when it freezes. This expansion can degrade the mortar and force the surface of the brick to spall off, further exposing the soft interior of the brick to degrade.

I'm not a big fan of painted brick, and why add more maintenance to a fairly maintenance-free home? With that said, painting the siding and fascia in a lighter color (thinking a sandy beige or maybe even a pale sage green), then all trim a nice cool white (white dove by Benjamin Moore) would make a huge impact. A trellis over the garage is a great idea to add interest. I don't mind the dark color of the garage door, but I agree it needs some softening. Planters on either side and flowers in the front yard will make it so attractive this summer. Congrats!

dmun58, the "painted brick" discussion is always interesting for me to follow! As noted in early posts, it brings out "love or hate" responses! For me, I take a "historical"and cerebral approach to this subject. Some architectural "styles" look great with painted or semi-painted "parched" surfaces. Country Colonial is on example of a washed paint "used brick" look. Formal Colonial would white-wash or paint completely! So, in this post I default to the owner, do they "love or hate" the look? In the end they have to look at it every day!!

I also think it would look lovely with the siding painted a light sage green and the trim in a soft white. Then a definite yes to the trellis above the garage and a white garage door.

Lovely home. I like the suggestions above of painting the garage and white trim either a taupe, sage or gray. The one drawback I see is the setback of the entrance which I would bring forward with a pergola as in this picture below :

I would need a long shot of your property to recommend landscaping but what I see that's existing isn't very effective. Can you make a pic with the house centered in the middle and showing both sides ?

I think this would look good

Lighter version of roof color.

We painted our brick house ,looks great...

But we live in Australia,we bagged it with a cement render first,
Lots of properties here do the same ,looks good but the render needs to be applied evenly ...