We are getting new siding, and our home has some brick as well. The brick is multi-colored, containing your typical tans, slate grays, burnt red, etc. So for siding, I think we can pretty much do whatever color - we are thinking tan (but that is boring!) or slate gray. Anyone else have similar colors and want to chime in as to what colors they chose? Do you like what you went with? My worry is that the home is somewhat old, built in 70's, and I don't want a tan color to make it look aged, as the outside design is somewhat 70's ish (split level). Hard to explain what I mean!
And what about door color? I am so afraid to put these colors on the home and then regret it. You can't go back! Any help would be appreciated!
white-always. Everything else looks dirty. Here's a link to a description of this on my fave decorating blog. She also has seveal other entrys on exteriors.
http://www.mariakillam.com/2012/07/vinylsiding.html
How about a gray with a wood grain look. I love it and wish I had done it. My house was built in 1970.
Sorry Megan but please for the love of god, no blue!!! Every now and then I see a house with blue siding and just shake my head.
Your brick sounds a lot like mine, I went safe, I have white siding. The thing with siding, white is okay because it always comes clean.
The nice thing I have found as well is that I can paint my doors any color that suits my mood so long as it compliments the brick and everything compliments that brick! I used to have the brightest shade of blue, now it is bright red.
I am strange, I admit this, but I love having a bright door. When I give people instructions to the house all I really need is to tell them door color. No one has ever had trouble finding me.
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Oh can't stand grey, one of my neighbors has grey, I always feel depressed when I look at their home.
Yeah, I am strange
Up here in gray, rainy Portland a lot of people use color to punch up their houses. One popular color is a deep and rich yellow, something that would play well off the neutrals you have. (Perhaps not your thing-- but we are aching for color in our neighborhood!)
Top photo of this page...
http://www.houzz.com/photos/exterior/paint-colors-yellow-...
(I'll have to enjoy it by proxy if you do select yellow-- husband vetoed it. We're doing a bright red-orange for our house with cream --and either deep purple or brown trim!)
Our house has tan siding, white trim and black shutters and black front door.
We also have a little red brick as well.
It was new built in 2007 and we bought it that way.
Tan is a very popular color around here - most of the newer homes use that or white.
With the hot summer sun we get, a lighter color doesn't get as hot.
And it's easy to power wash the shady northern side (gets a little moldy every few years).
We have a white yarn Christmas wreath that looks so good on that door.
But, when the sun angles in under the porch in summer afternoon the door gets very hot.
Tan or grey are very versatile colors and many accent colors will work with them for your door and shutters.
The only front door color in our neighborhood that I don't like is yellow.
To me it just seems to clash with the rest of the colors on that particular house.
We recently sided our 1912 home , it used to be grey stucco, and we put tan planks on the bottom 3/4 and sage green shake shingle style on the top1/4 of the walls. we have white trim on all the windows and white screen doors and then inner doors are natural wood color. Maybe you can use 2 different colors/styles on your house some way??
Williamsburg Blue for siding
Burnt Red for a door
White trim
Look at your neighbor's houses. You want your choice to compliment theirs, but not be too close to the same. There is a neighborhood near us where the houses are 3 colors. Either tan, white, or blue. Driving along the colors are randomly, but nicely dispersed. However, there is one Court, where 3 houses, on one side of the street are all the same color. It is odd.
If you live in a neighborhood like mine then I recommend driving around to look at others' choices to get an idea. Just do something that is tasteful so as not to tick the other neighbors off. My last neighborhood was all very neutral colored homes and one person decided to paint their ENTIRE house (it was stucco, we were in Orlando) a sky blue and I swear it made my blood boil (and I suspect many others) because it was butt ugly and did not complement the rest of the neighborhood. Thankfully I live in a neighborhood now in TX that has a very strict HOA rule in place for paint color, it has to be approved by the committee. We had a beautiful red door in FL, that is a big trend now I think. Our door in TX is stained wood and it is very pretty too. I'm all for color but I think neutrals (and there is a HUGE choice so you don't have to look like everyone else) is always best and most considerate to your fellow neighbors :-)
Gray is a pretty stylish color right now. With a burnt red door might be nice.
I heard that Sherwin Williams has on their website that you can download a picture of your house and put on different colors to see what it would look like. I haven't looked, so I'm hoping I'm telling you the truth!! Anway, IMO tan is so typical. Everyone has tan. Our house USED to have tan siding, and it was so ugly. It was spotted in places from the sun drying it out and it was splotchy colors too because of the sun. We changed to white, and it made a huge difference and our house looks so much better and we get lots of compliments.
Siding is a tricky material. It looks different at different times of day, given the angle of sunlight. Try to get 2 or 3 choices and nail a piece of each on the front of your house. It looks silly, but better silly now, and a good decision for a long time! When we did this, neighbors and strangers chimed in with their picks!
Also, when you side your house, much of how good it looks depends on the trim color and details. When looking at others house, notice if they added trim around the door to make it larger appearing, and if they added trim on the corners. These details make a real difference.
All my best!
Ours is a gray brown with red shutters and accents. We have a dark brown door.
If you don't like it, you can repaint it. Our house used to be yellow.
I personally don't care what the neighbor's house looks like other than it's kept up and not a scene out of a horror movie. We have a house in our neighborhood that is shades of orange. We call it the Sherbert House. Someone in my IL's neighborhood has one that is neon yellow. But it apparently works for them and makes a great landmark.
We we got new sidding we drove around our neighborhood and looked at what other houses had and what colors/styles we thought looked good on similiar houses then took a few pictures and gave the contactor the address to bring us similiar samples.
Well, we have siding on the back porch. Ours is a 2 flat, all brick with the exception of the back porch. Ours was built in 1913, brown brick front with a mix of brown/tans on the sides. The siding on the porch is this creamy/tan/yellowish thing that is just plain ugly. We would love to replace it with maybe a darker tan or brown but not worth it since we won't be there much longer. I would see if you can get samples and see how they look in the loght by your house.
And I agree with the darker green. There are a couple "newer" homes built in the 80s or expanded on the 2nd floor with green and it looks really nice no matter the brick color;
Ours is plain old boring tannish/brown. About the same color as dirt and I hate it. My husband picked it.
Our good friends just had their siding redone and I got to help pick the color ~ it's a dark, mossy green color with cream trim and its beautiful!
One of our neighbors has slate grey and I love it, a lot!!
We recently painted our house slate gray, and I am very happy with it. We painted the shutters a color called "borscht" (dark purply red) and it looks great with the gray.
I've seen some houses with siding that is a muted darkish green, which I think is very pretty. It's a little different and would probably look nice with your brick.
Good luck!
I let my husband chose the house color as long as I could have a purple door. I love painting the door different colors, it's easy to change. Our house is a neutral light brown, not really tan but not really brown. It looks nice.
I'd make my decision based upon a couple factors:
1) What is the color theme in your neighborhood? If all the houses are white, I'd be reluctant to go with anything too bold.
2) Drive around and look for houses and buildings with similar brick. What accent colors and siding do they have? What do you like or hate about their choices? Nothing like a real life example ! (this is how my boss chose her house color, roof, and driveway!)
3) If you still can't decide, consider the interior of your home. If you are very modern and contemporary, with lots of cool tones, grey may be the way to go. ( i love slate grey.) If you have lots of warm neutrals, maybe you are a beige person afterall. If you are STILL puzzled after looking at your home, open your closet. What color do you see the most? We tend to buy the colors we love most, and if you can stand to see it in your closet and on you every day then it's probably a safe bet for your siding color. Unless it's pink. That would probably be a mistake.
What would look good in the neighborhood? Also, ask for help from the siding contractor(s) you talk to. My dad and brother own a siding and window/door company and perhaps the salesperson can assist you. They've always helped me when I've had a project and can often provide samples. Gray is very popular (even trendy?) right now. I've also read that brightly colored doors are in. A door would be a relatively easy and cheap way to get a pop of color. Since siding lasts a long time (or at least it is supposed to) I would definitely stick with a neutral color. Maybe a burgundy, purple or red door if you like color? I have a boring tan house with cocoa-colored trim, but I prefer gray tones on the exterior. We had to stay tan because of the window color. What color are your windows? That might be a factor too.
this website looks good:
My home is this hideous light/powder blue siding. I loathe it to pieces. When I get the outside of my home resurfaced, I will not be getting siding but going for some kind of stucco/brick type facing in a bold navy blue, gray trim with an amazing cherry wood door. I can see it now. BEAUTIFUL.
Many of the homes in my neighborhood are light green, tan, yellow or the same blue as mine.
What ever you choose make certain it will be something you can live with and is beautiful to you. Don't be afraid about making a decision. I've seen homes in places near me that have recently been redone and are hideous but that didn't stop the owners from making their homes look that way. Two imparticularly linger in my mind, one is Pepto Bismal pink and the other is a glow in the dark type lavendar.
I say stay neutral with the house and pop some color with your door. I hope this helps.
I would follow the trend of colors in your neighborhood.
Also, do you have an HOA that regulates colors, etc? Some HOA's can be very picky.
Good luck.
