Brick House Trim, Door, and Roof Colors: What Works

The color scheme on this brick house started with, alas, the bricks. From the variegation in the pile of burgundy bricks, the homeowners picked a medium charcoal roof color (it's in there), a burgundy front door color (it's definitely in there), a bright white for trim to optimize the contrast against the brick and accentuate the beautiful architectural features, a coordinating specimen tree for the entryway (very nice touch), brass metal for the front door (it picks up the grout color and adds depth) and wrought iron for the lights (the dressy jewelry of the house).

If you have a brick house and are stumped by what colors to use for the trim, roof, front door, and any other siding around the house, start with your brick color(s). If you pull the color scheme out of the bricks, the whole house will come together.

A note of caution: Since many brick styles have a variety of colors in them, you may start with quite a large palette of colors. In that case, I suggest sticking only to that palette. But if your brick is monochromatic (for example, all the bricks are exactly the same one color), then you can introduce one or two other coordinating colors into your palette and avoid looking too busy. Send a photo if you need help. I'm at your service.

Color Your Front Door

The front door is your opportunity to give your house some personality and with very little money. Especially if you have a neutral color scheme everywhere else, like we see in this photo from Country Living Magazine (www.countryliving.com/.../budget-makeover-0206).

This beige and brown ranch style home comes alive at the front entryway with a glossy orange door, pumpkin accessories, and wrought iron as the metal for the lights and planters. That's exactly what I've been encouraging homeowners to do on my other blog for years (see http://yourcolorcoach.wordpress.com). The front door area is (or should be at least) the real focal point that draws your visitors in. A stunning coordinating color will let your friends and family know which doorbell to ring.

Orange is a fabulous accent color -- you cannot help but feel happy when you see orange. But other coordinating colors will work just as well. Take inspiration from the colors in your yard, particularly by the front door. Rich blueberry, eggplant purple, sunshine yellow, and rosy raspberry all make terrific front door colors if you have any of those colors in your garden plantings already. Take time to focus some attention on that front door. It's the easiest change to make on your house and it will give you a huge impact. If you need some help choosing a front door color, I'm at your service.

Shutters or No Shutters and What Color?

Most of our homes do not have as many windows as this beautiful historic Federal style house, but some windows just call out for shutters. If your house is a colonial or ranch style with double-hung windows ("six-0ver-six" panes of glass separated by "grids" or mullions), then you should consider investing in shutters to add a finishing touch to your house. Of course, if you live in an area threatened by periodic hurricanes, then shutters are required for protection. But I'm speaking to those of you who, just like putting up curtains in the living room, might add shutters to "dress" the windows.

If you have a modern or contemporary home with a variety of window styles, shapes, and sizes including casement ("open-out") windows, then shutters might be more of a distraction than an asset to your curb appeal. Also, if there is no room to put in properly sized shutters, then forget it. Don't opt for the mini-sized version just to cram the shutters into the facade. It's not worth it.

As for color, white works in only limited palettes; it is best to pick an accent color. I prefer dark shutters with a dark roof; however, there's more to dark than just your standard black shutters. Various shades of Midnight blueand Charleston green can add enough color to make the house interesting yet enough contrast to make the house stunning from the street. Adding dark shutters is like adding a touch of black to your interior palette. It just dresses up the house.

For those of you choosing from standard off-the-shelf shutter colors, your options are more limited, but remember that black always works. One note: if the shutter color is in your house somewhere (in the brick tones, for example), then that shutter color will work. However, if you have a rusty red brick, beware of clashing red shutters. I see them everywhere, just slightly off.

There are so many shutter styles to choose from these days that you can make a real design statement just by adding shutters. If you have a question about your own house and whether or not to add shutters (or what color), I'm at your service.

Creating a Basement "Man" Cave

Although this basement renovation included all the elements of a men's club (the requisite large, flat-screen TV, exercise equipment, pool table, and gas fireplace), the palette of soft green, rich chocolate, copper, and dark plum appeals to partygoers of all kinds. Really is hard to believe it's a basement!

Before

The Principal Gets a Makeover

Well, the Principal's office, that is. The room needed a complete overhaul, from floor to walls to furniture. With paint, floor tiles, a few trips to the local home goods store, and some furniture rearrangement, we had quite the makeover in a short amount of time.

Before

Brightening Up a Second Grade Classroom

Over the summer, we added some wonderful dragonfly fabric to the windows and shelf areas of an elementary school classroom and made big floor pillows with leftover fabric. The teacher was so inspired that she decluttered the rest of the classroom and started the new year on the right foot. What a fun project!

Ask your Exterior House Color Questions here...