Exterior Brick Update: Out With The Old Red Brick and In with The New White Stain!

White houses are all the rage these days and it’s a trend that is sweeping neighborhoods…..at least in my area. I started pondering the idea of painting our house white a couple of years ago, but never thought in a million years that I would ever be able to convince my husband to go for it. He’s a traditional, practical man and I knew this kind of change in our traditional neighborhood would be out of his comfort zone entirely. But, that didn’t stop me from trying! Once I became very serious about wanting this change I decided to bring it up to him just to see what he would say. His first response was exactly as expected, “There’s no way”. No surprise here! LOL. But as more and more homes started springing up around our town with the new white look he started becoming a little more open and even somewhat fascinated with the idea.

Then when my son and daughter-in-law had their brown brick painted white (it was actually a brick stain) and their beige trim painted a dark gray he could really see firsthand the amazing, refreshing transformation that could take place. It looked like a brand new home – fresh and updated and welcoming.

It wasn’t that we hated the red brick we had…..it was just that once we decided to stay put instead of moving, due to the overpriced housing market, we knew we wanted to freshen up our home and give it new life….you know……make it feel new and updated. We were in need of a new roof and gutters anyway so the timing was perfect to freshen up the brick and trim and give our home a more current, more up to date look.

After that decision was made, the next step of course was getting quotes to see if we were willing to spend the money required to make the change. And then, of course, selecting paint color, stain color, roof color and gutter colors.

As a retired interior designer I’ve obviously worked with numerous paint colors and sort of knew what I didn’t want for the brick, but still had several “whites” that I needed to sample out to see what would work best for us. It’s amazing how many shades of white there are and it can get a bit challenging to land on the one that is best. So we started with sampling out various whites and from there we would choose everything else.

Here is the process I went through:

1. Got a quote from SprayTex Painting, the company who did my my son’s house, and decided it was a go. We felt comfortable with their work after seeing what they did with his house. And, we felt it was very reasonable considering what all was involved: The clean up and patching of old brick and mortar as well as staining the brick and painting the trim, garage and doors.
2. Set a date to have it done allowing us enough time to decide on colors.
3. I made a list of the four whites I was interested in. Whites that I knew weren’t too white. I knew I wanted a warm white as opposed to bright, stark white. Nothing wrong with bright, stark whites….it’s just not what I wanted for my home. I like the warmer whites.
4. I made sample boards of the colors I chose to start with. The whites I tried are: a) SW Natural Choice b) SW White Duck c) SW Oyster White d) SW Shoji
5. We also knew we wanted black trim or a dark gray/black trim. I couldn’t get the paint to sample out these colors due to supply chain problems so I ordered these from a website called Samplize. (Click the name to be taken to their website). You can order any sample for $5.00 and get them the very next day. They come in large sheets and it’s the actual paint, not a print of the color, so it’s easier to see the actual, true color. The samples I ordered were: a) SW Tricorn Black b) SW Black Magic c) SW Iron Ore
6. We sampled the only two dark gutter colors offered a) Dark Bronze b) Black
7. We got samples of roof colors and narrowed it down to a) Timberline Charcoal or b) Landmark Morie Black. Then we got the addresses of our roofer’s clients so we could drive by and see them in person.

And, here are the selections we ultimately went with:

1. SW Natural Choice for the brick in the stain instead of the paint. The stain coverage is a bit different than paint. Actual paint is a more complete opaque coverage whereas the stain allows a little of the old brick to peek through. Which is what we like about it. Both are great options….it comes down to personal preference. The Natural Choice had no undertone seeping through in any lighting I tried it in. I made sure to check all the samples in the front yard and back yard and in the shade and sun. And, I also checked it at various times of day. We found that the Oyster White had a slight green undertone, the Shoji had a slight gray undertone and the White Duck had a slight pink undertone. You, however, might find you prefer one of the others for your own home. It all depends on the lighting and your own personal preference. One thing for you to keep in mind is that the color you choose can actually appear 2 – 5 shades lighter in an exterior setting than in an interior setting. So be sure to consider that in your decision making process!
2. We love the look of the white with a black contrast so we ruled out the Iron Ore right away just because it had a little too much gray in it. The Black Magic was a close second and I vascillated back and forth, but it was a softer black than the Tricorn Black so ultimately we decided on the Tricorn Black. We used this for all our trim, our front door, garage doors and the floor of our screened in porch.
3. The gutters we chose were simply the color “Black” which was a fairly simple decision although the Dark Bronze was an option as well, because it was also very dark. It would have gone well with the Iron Ore if we had chosen that route.
4. After driving around and looking at shingles we decided on Timberline Charcoal, because it had a darker look to it than the Landmark Moire Black and that’s what we wanted.

This is a HUGE decision and there is no turning back so I took the selection process very seriously. Even with thirty years of experience dealing with interior and exterior paint colors and being very knowledgable regarding Sherwin Williams paints I still knew I need to sample out every one of my options, check them in the light – sun and shade, front and back, different times of day. All of these factors are very important in making the final selections that you will be happy with. Everyone has a vision of their own personal preference and making sure you take your time to make the RIGHT decision is crucial.

That being said we couldn’t be happier with the final outcome of our home! We LOVE every new detail and are thrilled with the results. We truly feel like we are in a new home…..without having to move.

LOVE THAT!

Like I said it was a big decision, but one we are so happy with! I’m glad we took the time to be sure we selected the colors we would be happiest with. Believe me when they actually start painting it’s a bit scary. LOL.

If you are considering painting your home I hope this was helpful, useful information for you. And, I hope you make the decision to go through with it! I feel like it’s such a refreshing way to update your home and create an all new appreciation for it.

And, it sure is cheaper that moving!

Happy Life By Design!