How did you update your Red Brick Colonial/Black Shutter to look more current

[Anonymous]

I feel like I need to do something. I’d love to get black windows, but we can’t afford that. Any thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Paint your door a fun, bright color. Change up your landscaping.

[Anonymous]

https://www.southernliving.com/home/remodel/how-to-update-brick-exterior

[Anonymous]

Red brick is such a difficult color to harmonize. I would do a whitewash then paint the shutters a dusty blue-grey, and have a more vibrant shade of same for the door. Better look if a garden as a lot of pink flowers in it.

[Anonymous]

You can paint the sills black (and paint it back when that trend passes).

[Anonymous]

Remove shutters completely

[Anonymous]

OP here. My husband would not be a “paint the brick” kind of guy.

[Anonymous]

Updated front door and house numbers

[Anonymous]

change the light fixtures - modern homes tend to have one on either side of the the door rather than one. change house numbers.

update your landscaping - do you have old boxwoods and holly that have lost their shape and have holes/gaps? similarly azaleas aren't a popular plant to have in the front yard anymore - I moved mine to the back. find a way to have a more cohesive look.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My husband would not be a “paint the brick” kind of guy.

Smart guy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:change the light fixtures - modern homes tend to have one on either side of the the door rather than one. change house numbers.

update your landscaping - do you have old boxwoods and holly that have lost their shape and have holes/gaps? similarly azaleas aren't a popular plant to have in the front yard anymore - I moved mine to the back. find a way to have a more cohesive look.

Dear Lord, you redecorate because of what's "popular"? Popularity in the plant world is not high-stakes, PP. 99.9% of people go with what's there already, or what they prefer to see outside their window. A few have an eye for color and understand that red brick goes with green foliage, fall colors and practically nothing else. Let's hope you guys have maples in the front, pines/spruces, boxwoods, etc. Or white cherry trees, white magnolias, white camellias. Don't murder our eyes and do pink flowers on a red brick background.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:change the light fixtures - modern homes tend to have one on either side of the the door rather than one. change house numbers.

update your landscaping - do you have old boxwoods and holly that have lost their shape and have holes/gaps? similarly azaleas aren't a popular plant to have in the front yard anymore - I moved mine to the back. find a way to have a more cohesive look.

Dear Lord, you redecorate because of what's "popular"? Popularity in the plant world is not high-stakes, PP. 99.9% of people go with what's there already, or what they prefer to see outside their window. A few have an eye for color and understand that red brick goes with green foliage, fall colors and practically nothing else. Let's hope you guys have maples in the front, pines/spruces, boxwoods, etc. Or white cherry trees, white magnolias, white camellias. Don't murder our eyes and do pink flowers on a red brick background.

Haha. Very passionate. I like my pink azaleas against red brick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:change the light fixtures - modern homes tend to have one on either side of the the door rather than one. change house numbers.

update your landscaping - do you have old boxwoods and holly that have lost their shape and have holes/gaps? similarly azaleas aren't a popular plant to have in the front yard anymore - I moved mine to the back. find a way to have a more cohesive look.

Dear Lord, you redecorate because of what's "popular"? Popularity in the plant world is not high-stakes, PP. 99.9% of people go with what's there already, or what they prefer to see outside their window. A few have an eye for color and understand that red brick goes with green foliage, fall colors and practically nothing else. Let's hope you guys have maples in the front, pines/spruces, boxwoods, etc. Or white cherry trees, white magnolias, white camellias. Don't murder our eyes and do pink flowers on a red brick background.

I'll stand by what I said - if you want your brick colonial to look fresh, look at the landscaping of newer and more modern homes - azaleas don't look fresh, crisp, modern. Old boxwoods and holly bushes can look bad if they haven't been well taken care of. No blue hydrandgea either.

Agree with japanese maples, cherry trees, dogwoods though. Bushes are another story.

[Anonymous]

Don’t change the windows to black. We had black windows and it looked so sad against the brick. Just painted them white and it made a huge difference. I would try to refresh shutters and do a bright color door!

[Anonymous]

Good lord! Black trim on a brick house?! Talk about astonishingly bad and clueless taste. And ridiculous and an eyesore.

Ain't nothing wrong with a classic off-white trim on a brick colonial. Many shades of off-white from faint grey to pale cream. Keep the door to the classic black/wrought iron/dark blue/dark green colors.

It's the quality of the painting that matters more than anything else.

You have a brick colonial. Deal with it. Don't make a mockery of it by pretending it's something it isn't.