Help! 70’s cream brick & mission brown trim

Hi everyone,

I need opinions on what to do externally with my 70’s solid brick house.

It’s cream brick with mission brown roof, gutters & other trimming.

My vision was to keep the brick & re spray the roof & all the trim in a charcoal type colour (new gutters though, not re paint) now here’s where it gets tricky...
The bottom 3 layers of brick on the house are brown?!?! What to do....
Do I have to keep the brown roof & trim or can I do something with the brown brick?

 

You used to be able to render the older style 3x1 homes pretty cheaply, for about 3-4k ??, some variations look a lot better than others,and when done in conjunction with getting the roofs, gutters and trim repainted, it can really improve the outside look of the house.
I always liked the charcoal roof /trim look with a cream/limestone brick/render ,although I think it may increase your electricity(cooling) costs.

 

Ummm... a photo would be great, and how much your budget is to spend.
1.All out budget, paint all trims charcoal. Roof sprayed. Render the front. Spray paint the rest of the house... but loads of similar houses look like this.
2. Paint roof & trims. Work with the cream brick. Disguise the brown with planting’s. For example, large stroppy leaved plants with flower spikes to draw the eye up & cover the brown.
3. Clean it thoroughly, keep the brown but refresh paint. Add complementary plants.

But yeah... helps to have photos & budget.

Best wishes!

 

As others have said photos would help.

You could render the bottom third of the bricks to cover up the brown brick or put cladding like some horizontal fibre cement weatherboard if the style of the house would complement it.

 

Aww yeah, I didn’t really want to render but I’d prefer to do that rather than keep the brown bricks,
The whole property is undergoing a complete make over & my plan is to sell in a couple years & re buy in the suburb I grew up in.
I’d like things done properly the first time & for it to look great.
I don’t really have a budget but the lower the better
And as you might be able to tell, I’ve never done this before.

 

Ooh! never thought of part render or cladding... would a part render look ok?

Thanks for all of the replies so quickly

Sorry for the crappy photos it’s all I have atm.

Also we plan to concrete the front verandah in a colour to suit as well.

 

Are you sure it is brick? Or brick veneer? Weird texture to those cream bricks!

 

Khaki is the new black

 

I would paint the brown bricks a grey or charcoal colour. Using plants to disguise them will be high maintenance. I like the idea of covering (cladding) the bottom section of the brickwork too. As you are planning to sell in a few years, I would think about repainting all the external brickwork and then give it a wash when you are ready to sell. Roof, trims and gutters as you have suggested. Maybe very light grey around the windows.

 

Yep solid brick.. but agree on that pattern.

I’m not wanting to paint the whole house, but would consider painting just the brown bricks, or render or clad.

Hmmm.. I really don’t know what would be best?

 

Haha so true, but how do you make mission brown attractive

 

I’ve noticed in recent years brick is now a regular feature in contemporary architecture.

I’d embrace the brown and have some fun with it by using an accent colour on the front door. Google colour schemes with brown.

colour scheme with brown - Google Search:

.. I don’t think charcoal would be right, but each to their own

The last thing I would do is render it. Unnecessary expense which requires ongoing maintenance.

 

I really do want to keep the brickwork original, because it’s no maintenance & I think it’s a good look, but I hate the brown!
I’d just love to change all the brown to a nicer dark shade, then landscape & new fencing to finish the look.
It’s the bottom brown bricks that are throwing me for a loop.

Thanks, good idea to at least look into keeping the brown & check out some colour palette’s, but I’m not convinced yet..

 

Painted brickwork looks pretty tacky. I would render or clad or leave as is with the addition of plants.

But don't paint it. Unless painted brick is a thing in Adelaide?

 

Is this a swanky area of Adelaide? If it's a $300-350k type area then I'd be wary about over capitalising on it.

Your options to cover it are:
- stackstone - but I think that would clash with the stone by the front door
- paint it as close to the colour of the brick as possible (creamy beige)
- render/clad it and some cream bricks up to the window sill

Painting it would be an economical experiment and if you like it then good. If not it's $50 you'd spent that didn't work.

 

I’d paint the roof and trims and lower brick an off white like colourbond surfmist.

 

It’s not a swanky part of town Southern Suburbs- mid range suburb.
Houses are typically selling in this area between 250k - 350k
The higher price range tend to be larger land parcels, fully renovated or 4br or 3+ rumpus that are neat but maybe not reno’d.
Mine is on about 560sqm & is a 3+1+1
The 3+1’s that are rendered & reno’d are fetching the higher prices, compared to the brick + reno’s.

 

This is an example of a cream brick home with brown bricks looking more modern... and kind of cool retro feel. Love it!

 

One of Cherie Barbers I believe. A lot more $ involved. But the result is clearly a 'newer style' but I kind of think that it is like mutton dressed as lamb. It's never going to be modern, and compete with new builds... and at the same time, you can't have those retro feels. I don't think the value would increase dramatically for the $ spent at the price point you are at in the area.