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.