To paint or white wash...

Hi Christine,

 

I ran across your blog trying to find colors to paint or whitewash our really red brick home. It's been remodeled and added on to, and the new brick just doesn't match up to the original 60 year old brick. We're thinking about also adding a larger front porch soon (maybe a  Craftsman style-any ideas??) and I need to decide what to do about the color(s) of our home, siding, and trim. I love the look of whitewashed brick, but I'm not sure if we should paint it, whitewash it, or leave it alone. We live in Charleston, SC, and I'm going for a coastal cottage look. I'm attaching two pictures of whitewash that I really like. Thanks-you're AWESOME!

- Jennifer

Hi Jennifer-

I found some white washed brick homes- I would be careful to make sure it is done well.  Can you tell that the first photo is not as good a job as the second two photos?

This one above looks really bad to me- however- I love...

 this one and

this one. I like the classic black shutters and white trim.  White wash trim, like the home above, is equally as beautiful, but with your black roof, I would go white. 

I also included some painted homes.  My personal preference would be the white wash- and it will also be much lower maintenance. 

As far as the porch goes- no don't go Craftsman.  Why?  You don't have a Craftsman home.  There is a home near me that is Victorian, and the new owner tried to make it look Tuscan.  It looks ridiculous.  Be true to your architecture.  (Unless you plan to completely change the roof line of your home....)

Your house is a Cape Cod.  Adding a porch, it should look something like the home above.  (Which would also require a new roof line...)

You could have it come out at an angle like the one above- perhaps that would be less intrusive.  The home above does use a more Craftsman style column, maybe you could pull it off...  I don't know- I still don't think your brick looks Craftsman to me...

You could have a nice set of steps coming up to your porch- such a charming look. 

So- what does everyone think- should Jennifer white wash, paint her brick or leave it alone? Do you think she can do a Craftsman style columned porch with her home?

Sue's Siding Solution

Dear Christine,
I am writing in for my friend, Sue.

This is Sue's house. She will be undergoing the process of "re-siding" the house in the next couple months and needs to pick a color for the siding. Staying with white is always an option... But she is wondering if a beige (like the one in the photo ending in 499) would be a better option. Or something different all together? What would you do?

~Kim

Kim, or Sue,

What I would do is drive around looking at homes and find a color pallet that you really love. Then, I would copy it. Keep in mind the gray roof, but other than that- she can really go either way- or another way altogether. I also see that she has white window panes- so keep white as one of the colors of the exterior. Generally it is a three color pallet- so she still has two other colors to select.

I would do two other things as well. First of all- I would paint the brick. It is a dated color, and there is a funny southwest looking pattern that bothers me to the left of the light. I would paint it the same color- or a very similar color- to the siding color.

Some people get all freaky when I make such suggestions- it is probably the same people that think it is a sin to paint wood furniture. So I pulled some pictures of some beautiful painted brick homes.

I would also replace the shutters with larger shutters. The scale of the shutters is too small. Look at the nice large shutters on these homes compared with the small ones on Sue's house. New shutters would make a huge difference.

Painted brick is a maintenance issue. That is true, although there is not a ton of brick- so it wouldn't be a huge issue. However- if you want it to be more maintenance free- the brick could also be whitewashed.

It would be enough color to hide the funny pattern- and give you a more updated look. Whitewashing is very cooperative with the aging process- as it just looks more weathered as it becomes more weathered.

If I were considering this, I would do a small portion, to make sure it looked good with your brick color.

I tend to go for understated color pallets- neutral shades in exteriors. Light khaki, beige, white, black, cream....

So- there you go- if Sue is mad at you and wants me to delete the post- I'd be happy to. :) If Sue's husband is mad at me- for turning one project into three.... so sorry. (I could have also told him to make his columns bigger- I was going easy on him- tell him that.)

Thanks,

Christine