Our Exterior Paint Colors that Compliment Red Brick

Exterior Paint Colors We Tested

Here is the before photo of the side of our house before we got our new windows and painted the exterior.

The dusty pink is not the only color you can paint your house with red brick.

Nor do you have to go with a version of beige.

The key though to picking an exterior paint color that compliments red brick is to pick a warm gray or greige.

Of course, we all have different tastes when it comes to paint colors, but these four options are a great place to start.

You'll notice this picture is a little odd and not as professional as my photos usually are, but that's because I took this of the actual Samplize color samples I used to test these colors.

If you've never heard of Samplize, you are totally missing out!

Instead of buying paint samples and going through the headache of actually painting swatches on each side of your house, these bad boys are peel and stick!

You can get them in a ton of brands (i.e. Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore, etc.) and in any of their colors.

I used them to choose the colors for our outdoor living room too.

For the exterior of our house, I tested Mindful Gray, Colonnade Gray, Dorian Gray, and Agreeable Gray all from Sherwin Williams.

Another thing you have to keep in mind is which direction your house faces (i.e. north, south, east, or west).

This will determine how the color shows up on your individual home.

I did extensive research on our east-facing home and I'll share some of those resources in the sections below.

Here is what I discovered about these four colors…

• Mindful gray
  • Gray and greige undertones with subtle bluish-green undertones
• Collonade Gray
  • Warm greige with brown undertones that can hint a little bluish in north-facing lighting and shift slightly from green to purple depending on the time of day.
• Agreeable Gray
  • Gray with a warm, beige undertone and can lean more beige or gray depending on the amount of light, but it's considered one of the purest greige colors.
• Dorian Gray
  • Gray paint that stays in the warm gray category with subtle purple undertones in certain light. It can also show a little green at times too.

Each of these colors was part of the research I did for the best gray/greige colors for east-facing homes.

Tips for Choosing Exterior Paint Colors

It's a little hard to get the full feel with all the foliage in front of the house, but it is a masterpiece!

These colors definitely compliment our red brick well, but here are some tips I picked up for choosing exterior paint colors that I think you'll find helpful…

• Don't judge the color when the paint is still wet.
  • Totally thought I didn't like it, but its because I was looking at it before it dried.
• Don't just pick one color for everything.
  • Consider a complimentary color for the trim, gutters, shutters, and front door to add dimension to your exterior.
• Don't forget to consider the undertones of your roof as well as the brick color and undertones when choosing exterior paint color.
• Always test the colors at multiple times of day on different sides of the house using Samplize paint color samples.