Why Paint Brick? The Answer May Surprise You!

(Originally published January 2020)

My client wanted to paint their beautiful brick house.

My first thought was, are you nuts? Why would anyone paint brick? Painting brick essentially turns a low-maintenance exterior into a high-maintenance exterior. I had no idea why anyone would want to do that, especially in a traditional brick home neighborhood.

As a professional home stager, I often field questions about interior paint color selection. The question about painting a brick exterior honestly took me off guard, because no one ever asked me about it before. I decided to do my due diligence and explore the topic, so I could give the best advice possible.

My shocking discovery

I felt doubtful that painting a brick house was a good idea, but I challenged myself to remain objective.  The morning of our in-person consultation, I drove around the well-tended neighborhoods in my city on a mission to find out if painted brick was really a thing. I honestly thought that painted brick was a bad idea and that it would look wrong in a traditional red-brick neighborhood.

However….

You know what I found? Painted brick looks amazing with the right color combinations choices! I noticed a significant number of painted brick houses, usually white or off-white with contrasting trim. A dark neutral contrasting trim and coordinating dark door looked most current; white doors or a light trim looked dated. The houses that were painted brick stood out in neighborhoods full of red brick, but in a really good way. Painted houses, in many cases, made the neighboring unpainted brick houses look boring and unimpressive in comparison.

With my very enthusiastic blessing, my client painted their house beautiful shade of off-white, with contrasting taupe trim and dark garage doors. Their house was almost recognizable when I drove by a week later! The house was listed for only 6 days before they had an offer, telling me that they did the right thing by bucking traditional thought and painting their brick house.

If you consider painting your brick home, though, I encourage you to hire the services of a professional with training of color selection. Choosing the right color for the home is essential to having a good final result!

Check out my listing of services, include my color selection services!