I do not understand why people paint brick.

The door's nice, though.

that looks awesome! great choice of colors :D

I have never thought about a bright yellow door, but I like it.

Big mistake. The next people are going to have to deal with flaking paint on brick and it's going to be so expensive for them to correct this. Wow. Monumentally bad.

It looks amazing-it's like a different house. Well done.

Pay no attention to these naysayers. The unpainted brick looked miserable and dingy, and NOW, it looks fresh and bright.

Well done.

Looks fantastic! I loved the mix of painted and unpainted brick rowhouses in my old neighborhood. Neighborhoods don't just develop character on their own... homeowners have to put their own stamp on their property!

@Lobita,

People paint brick all the time, and it actually protects the bricks and mortar from errosion. "Monumentally bad" is a bit of hyperbole, IMO.

Mind you, I like the brick look more, but it's their house and they chose great colours. The yellow door works really well with the gray, and I like how they matched the front and back doors.

Hmmm . . . I don't understand Lobita's comment about flaking paint on brick (and I lived in a row of houses that were each painted a different color for years). People paint brick when the brick is ugly and in poor shape, as the post explained. As with wood, not all brick is worth preserving in it's original condition. I think it looks terrific.

What an improvement! I think a little window awning above the top window would look cute.

Agree with the positive reviews! If future homeowners decide to strip the paint they will be very disappointed with the underlying brick. Paint was a huge improvement and you made great color choices!

It's BEAUTIFUL.

I like it. Well done!

Great job! I love it. I wish our landlady would do it to our house. Ours has crumbling mortar and I bet it would help...patch and paint.

Well done! I love the colors you chose. I live in boston and we have so much red brick here...though some of it is very beautiful you easily tire of seeing it everywhere. Also, it can be very monotonous and drab, especially in the winter.

I agree with Jarichtig. Well done!

Great way to help perk up your home and break of the monotony of a block of similar brick homes. It looks fantastic.

I just don't understand why a person paints their house, or an old piece of furniture that was in poor shape, in order to make it personalized. Don't they realize that offends me!

/sarcasm
I like it. Good job.

Like it; really like the back door area. Doesn't look like much was done with the front porch area. Not used as much or theft worry?

It looks fantastic!!! IGNORE all the negative comments......great job!

I think YOUR house looks great, but this is a big f-you to the rest of the row. Additionally, if you just slapped some latex up there, be prepared for peeling, bubbling paint and potentially damage bricks, as moisture trying to escape from the bricks gets trapped by that layer of latex.

I like the paint job!
However, those shutters on the second floor annoy me because they are not the size of the windows! Even if they are never meant to close, I think it should be made to fit.

YOUR house gorgeous! But the rest of the houses look really bad in comparison. Too bad you couldn't get together with them and have them all paint their houses. Like I said, I love your house, but it sticks out like a sore thumb.

STUNNING! Love it. Great choice.

Love it! The bright yellow door adds sophistication. Looks great!

Nooooooooo! The beautiful brick... :'( Yes, I'm one of those who prefer bricks "au naturel."

That said, I do like the yellow with the grey, though, really, really like it. It adds "pizzazz"! ;)

People are crazy, of course you can paint brick, especially poor quality brick. It looks fantastic. Hopefully it inspires the rest of the block!

WOW! So much better. Looks great. I love yellow and gray together =)

Great example of what a little paints and hard work can do. Well done!

YES. This is loads better.
I think one of the coolest parts about this project, beyond the nice pallete and fresh look to your home- is the fact that now your row house looks a lot more individual. Before, it was more a part of a long row of one long brick wall. Now you can say, "I live in the grey home.
To me- this looks more like an individual property than a row house, you've cut the line in the wall and said "this part is ours". It looks good- gives you an individual touch, and looks a lot better/more updated and modern than the other rows of houses...

Great job. I don't understand the naysayers.
Though I rarely understand the naysayers on the web- what's the point of pointing out that someone else has different taste than you (to complete strangers).

I think it looks great! There are plenty of brick houses laying around this country to keep the brick-lovers appeased. And--BTW--masonary can hold paint really well when it is applied correctly. Sections of my stucco house have paint from the 40s...looks perfect despite decades of Michigan weather...

Painting modern brick (which this seems to be) is not bad and does in fact protect the brick, HOWEVER painting historic brick with latex paint is one of the worst things you can do. Your brick and mortar will deteriorate MUCH faster and it can almost never be stripped without removing the thin weatherproof "skin" made by firing the bricks historically. If this "skin" is removed, eventually they'll just turn to dust (look for fine red powder all around the edge of you house!)

here's a like to the NPS preservation briefs on abrasive paint stripping (and how its bad)
http://www.nps.gov/hps/tps/briefs/brief06.htm

and another on rehabilitating exteriors that everyone should read prior to any exterior rehab!
http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps/briefs/brief47.pdf

This project looks great, a definite improvement but I wouldn't feel the same if the bricks were historic!

Oh for the love of god. I'm not offended that they painted the brick, or pointing out that I have different taste. I used to paint professionally and I've seen how shabby painted brick can look if it's neglected at all. Sorry for leaving a comment that isn't all sunshine and rainbows.

Gorgeousness! Love the color combo!

Good grief people. Let's assume they painted the brick correctly....I'll bet they researched it before painting. What in the world is it about ugly wood and ugly brick that makes people think it should be left in its natural state forever? Ugly is ugly. And...there are ways to make it attractive that are not crimes.
I think it looks good, a great improvement.
Everyone has an opinion on everything. Even me. I just don't understand some of the critics.

good job! Some brick needs to be painted :)

This looks amazing. Bravo to painting your house. I love the bright door.

I live in an area with a lot of old rowhomes and brick duplexes and those attached 2-unit houses. They've been beaten up by bad winters and in many cases, poor upkeep. Many of them are low income housing and the owners might not have as much in the way of resources to repair broken brick or to keep up with the maintenance of an entire exterior. A new paint job for a lot of these houses would do wonders for their appearance.

It's a little harsh to say that this is a big "f-you" to the neighbors. This house does stand out, but that's not a bad. They are free to do what they want with their house, and maybe it will encourage neighbors, no matter how cranky at first, to improve the look of their homes.

Huge HUGE improvement! Looks great!

I have something of a brick fetish so I do think that painting it borders on criminal. Also, I live in a city where there's precious little brick and for some reason it's become very trendy to paint it very dark shades (black, gray and brown particularly).

I think it looks much better. I'd of preferred the doors to be the that blue color of the outside planter in the second photo, back of the house. The yellow works to just love the blue/gray combination. Nice job.

looks beautiful!!!

Love the color choices! I am curious about the neighbors' reaction, though! Some people will freak out over tiny things, and some are much more open. Hope you lucked out and have neighbors who are cool with it.

At first I was like..I liked the natural brick better but after looking at the pictures for a little while it grew on me. I really love the yellow door and the addition of the shutters! The back area looks really nice too. Great job.

Very cute.

Yes, it's your choice to do what you wish to your house. But it affects the streetscape and the neighbourhood. I just spent thousands removing layers of white paint from a beautiful historic brick house in Toronto. Many decades ago it became trendy to paint perfectly good brick, now so many of us have to undo the damage.
At least you didn't stucco it, that would be criminal.

I like the painted brick and think the color choice is perfect. I dislike the shutter for the reasons explained before. But my biggest question is why you stopped at painting the brick--why not also give the porch and steps a coat of paint? Easy to do and it would have finished an otherwise really nice redo.

I think the paint work looks great. I live in Georgian Dublin, which is ALL brick terraced houses and some are painted. The ones that are done well are absolute standouts and do a service to the neighbourhood.

One thing I would suggest is that the shutters are too narrow (read: obviously non-functional) and adding another set to the ground floor window would look better.

Monumentally awesome improvement!!!!!!!!!!!!! Come live next door to me so I'll have the joy of having a neighbor that cares about what their house looks like!

A great improvement - Looooooove the yellow door.

Love it. elegant grey and cheery lemon. I like painted brick sometimes, and this is one of those times. well done !

LOVE IT! I work in DC and drive up 13th Street, NW to go home. The street is lined with old brick townhouses. The painted ones have so much more character. And, call me crazy, but I like the weathered brick look (old painted brick that has weathered for years and some of the brick is showing through--NOT peeling paint).

LOVE it. It's so cheerful!

Totally agree with Cuminafterall!!

i love the look of painted brick. always have. i think this is fantastic.

I don't have a comment on the painted brick. I do want to say that I think you need to decide which era you want to model. You have a very modern porch light and a modern yellow plant pot, but then you have the wrought iron in a not-modern style, and the planters with curlicues, etc. Pick one style and then it will be more cohesive.

Like the colors.

I poked around and did a little research (http://www.illinoisbrick.com/faq.aspx/technical-notes-6-painting-brick-masonry) and it's fine to paint brick as long as it's done and maintained correctly. I also looked at the actual blog this post came from, and it sounds like the owners put a lot of research into it themselves and know what they have gotten themselves into. The only thing is, they probably should have tuckpointed before painting. The paint will deteriorate a lot faster because that wasn't done.

Also, did anyone go look at the pictures of the neighbors? The look really run down. There are also apparently other painted houses on the street. They were also built as cheap housing in 1942. Just because something is old, doesn't make it precious.

TL/DR: Looks cute! Glad they put the effort in. Probably should have tuckpointed first.

I like painted brick. So there!

The color combinations look great but there is some confusion about painting brick:

Brick is a permeable material that needs to breath. When one side is coated with a non-permeable medium (like latex paint) you trap naturally-occurring water molecules, which can cause efflorescence (that flaky white stuff), spauling and mold.

There are lime-based paints that are appropriate for painting brick that prevent moisture trapping. Here's a good resource for more info: http://www.oldlouisville.com/circa1900/brick-structures.htm

I LOVE IT!
Way to stand out with style!

Something that I really think would give you some more "bang for your buck" is to trim out the front porch window. I think in both the before and after it looks unfinished. I would keep it white, I think it will balance out the yellow door...just a thought

Love the after! Great job :)

Very nicely done. If I was a neighbour I wouldn't be upset one bit as it breaks up the row a little. I actually think it makes the neighbouring brick look nicer by contrast. Not just a big blah row of the same red. Will make it a lot easier to direct people to your home especially with that great door colour choice.

On the downside I have a wholeheartedly agree on the shutter thing. The idea is great but the first thing I notice is that they are too skinny. Perhaps add another panel?

Otherwise, bravo!

LOVE!!!!

Honestly, some people are only happy when they have something negative to say. The brick on my home has been painted (and of course repainted) since the 1920s. It's FINE. I laugh when I hear, "How can you paint over brick?" Or what about the people who say, "It's a crime to paint wood!"? Brick? Wood? We're not talking diamonds, folks!

This looks fantastic! Such a great color combination.

Looks fantastic! Great way to differentiate your house from your neighbors and give it some pop. Yellow door really adds to it, too!

if they hired professional painters to do this, there's reason to believe that someone in that group did their research about which paint was best for this usecase. so we can stop assuming everyone is devoid of brain cells.

i love this, and it's going to age very well.

me likey too.

Candice & River said "At least you didn't stucco it, that would be criminal."

True.

I've seen similar row homes with one or two owners who thought that siding over the brick would look spiffy.

Great job!

I love it, and I love the look of painted brick. A whole row of brick houses can be a little boring so why not add some pizazz?

I see why you added shutters--it really helps balance out the top. I suggest adding shutters to the window below as well. If your budge allows, installing actual functional shutters that can be closed to block sun in summer would be a huge bonus. But I grew up in a house with flimsy little ornamental aluminum shutters so I am not impartial on this.

The front of my house is painted brick, I have no idea when it was first painted but it's holding up 10000X better than any other paint surface on my exterior. I know exactly why the previous homeowners painted it. First, the front of the house is a completely different color brick than the back and sides. I'm assuming the yellow brick in the front was more expensive than the red brick on the back and sides. Secondly, it's the exact same brick as the house next door, and there's not another house anywhere close that has the same color brick. It'd be weird to have two houses that look exactly the same sitting next door to each other. Thirdly, it's prety hideous. Seriously, it's bad. I wish the lady next door would paint hers too. The red sides and back aren't bad but the front is awful. I'm currently painting it a different color to modernize it, and get a little bit of visual interest going on and maybe match the paint color with the red brick but I actually prefer the brick painted, even though so many people think I should strip it.

Heh, I knew with the number of comments there would be a lot of "OMG, you painted brick!!" but I love it. I love a crisp gray as well, so the color choice is one I like, and even though I'm not usually a "yellow person" I do like it. IMO, anything that isn't historic or particularly attractive is open to interpretation. (I paint wood too.) Beautiful transformation!

I find it interesting that people can flat out say I hate painted brick or I love it...I think each case is unique and it seems as though the owners put a lot of thought into their decision. That being said, I think that I dislike painting brick because it ignores the uniqueness of each individual brick and washes over their form....

I would love to see someone paint a brick house, especially a row house like this, where they considered the form of the brick. Aside from the reveal on the front of the house on the left, I think that it would have been more interesting if the edge bricks were painted individually, rather than drawing a straight line down the brick. If you were to paint only the bricks that were more than 50% on the line, the edge would be raw, and would open up the possibility for your neighbor to use a different color and link to your edge without such a harsh line.

I agree that it would be great to consult and encourage your neighbors to protect their brick and join you in painting, there are so many ways to coordinate choosing colors that are unique but complimentary.

I like it. The second-story shutters look wrong to my eye, though.

On painting brick...I have 2 raw-brick (handmade, recycled) fireplace walls in my home. They have been getting on my nerves for years, but I bought into the "never paint brick" thing and left them as-is. I've finally decided to white-wash them. What is interesting and full of character to one person can be excessively busy, overwhelming and annoying to another. I can understand why someone would want to calm down all that brick.

LOVE.

I like it. The brick wasn't special, and without anything breaking it up it read more government housing than charming historic. This is happier, and looks more like a front door that I'd like to knock on.

Looks great! LOVE LOVE the front door - who knew?

Love the look but lose the fake shutters.

I like the final result. I'm not sure I would have had the guts to do it if I owned the home. My fear is that you'd limit your buyers pool when you decide to sell. Maybe, maybe not. Who knows?

Anyone else see the creepy green face in the window of the door? Yellow painted door, lower right corner, #110.

It looks completely out of place next to the other homes. I think they should have painted everything like the shutters and door and left the brick alone. Doesn't look right to me.

I'm not against painted brick but that shade looks drab and reminiscent of that awful gray asbestos shingle color that's all over poor downtown sections of various cities and towns in Pennsylvania.

@TiffanySeattle - If I was looking to buy, I'd notice that house before I noticed any of the others. They all look pretty old and run down, so this one would strike me as being more renovated and showed the owners probably cared more about their home.

You can also stain brick if you don't want to paint it. A house near me had some ugly brick in different colours and they stained it all a uniform brownish red, looks a lot better. People are also painting their ugly "dead salmon pink" stucco houses in a variety of colours for more great improvements. I think the quality of paint available now for this kind of thing is pretty good.

love the yellow doors!

I agree with @MUESLI.The paint job interrupts the flow of the homes so severely, it would've been much better to make the home stand out more subtly, withthe choice of more appealing colors for the other elements (front door, railing, shutters, the steps) and accessorizing the porch with interesting plants, furniture, lighting, etc. ... and leaving the brick facade unpainted. What the owners did seems really backwards to me.

I think it looks great, but I would be pissed if I were your neighbor.

love it and I happen to love love love painted brick. good job

brick, schmick... the paint looks great

Absolutely lovely and inspiring. You took a truly ugly facade and turned it into a gem. I'm considering buying and it is good to see an example of this kind of building transformed.

Thanks for those of you who posted tips on paining brick!

And to all of you preservationists who don't want to see brick or wood painted ever... surely SOME variation needs to be acceptable? Does everything need to be exactly uniform? And what's wrong with a bit of color? All over the world from Asia through Latin America through Europe (think Netherlands) there are examples of similar buildings painted different colors. It can work!

ISH... KN14606... there is a face in there!

I would guess that most of the OMG you painted brick!?! people don't live in a place where brick houses, are commonplace. If they were from a place like DC where brick is incredibly common and probably 90% of it is painted, it probably wouldn't even ping on their how-could-you radar. I've lived around painted brick all my life and I can't ever remember seeing a house with the paint bubbling off or anything like that, even with our horrible humidity. I have seen houses with paint flakes all over them, but that's because the home owners started on a repainting project, did some portion of the scraping and then just stopped and left their uncompleted project on public viewing.

I think the house in the post looks great and perfectly normal.

My alley house was originally made entirely of brick, although some point most of the brick on the front and back walls downstairs was replaced with a lovely cinder-block and I-beam combination. There was also another structure attached to the house that was demolished some decades ago. However long it was, the unprotected brick exterior of my place was completely exposed to the elements and was in terrible, terrible condition: crumbling brick, crumbling mortar, an absolute nightmare. When we finally got around to renovating the house, the brick was parged and is now completely covered up (and painted!). The front and back of the house had already been stuccoed by previous owners. I know people think it is a desecration to do that to brick, but what are the alternatives if if the brick has been significantly compromised either by previous owners or the forces of nature?

In comparison, a little paint is nothing!

gaaahh..I hate when people paint over brick instead of restoring it. And yet, I know brick can be painted nicely..this one looks nice but I am not overwhelmed by the result...oh well, if it fits their taste..

Inspiring! I saw the before and thought: "that looks exactly like my house". Saw the after and thought: " that looks exactly like my house is going to be" (gray and red).
Excellent job!!

I don't really like it for the simple fact that it just ends at the sides where it meets the neighbors. No transition...just end. It shouldn't be just your place that you worry about how it looks, but it should tie into its surroundings better.

I believe there is an old saying somewhere about it not being right to not be your best self in order to make others feel better about themselves. You're no more responsible for your neighbour's home's facade in a row house than I am for the house across the street from mine. Good on you for the paint job. I think it's beautiful.

Nice! Love painted brick--also the way it ages. Yellow door was an inspired choice.

Normally when I see painted brick, I cringe because the color choices are so awful...but these colors really look great together. Nicely done!

I absolutely love white painted brick as it ages,but I think these colors really give it character as its not that interesting a house architecturely.And I dont mean that in a bad way!

I'm not against painting brick per se, but I'm with the naysayers on this. It looks so awful to see that stark line against the neighbor's property on the viewer's right. It's not so bad on the left, where there's sort of a natural border, but just stopping on the right doesn't look right to me. Maybe this couple has a great relationship with their neighbors, but if I lived next door to them, I'd be pretty pissed that they did this. And that yellow! It just really doesn't seem to embrace the history and feel of the building.

Oh, just noticed looking at her personal website that they actually painted the HALF of a chimney that belonged to them. A half and half chimney. It just seems very tacky and weird to me.

People here are saying a lot about painting brick and not painting brick. It's simple, before crappy vinyl siding, brick and stone were the original endurable exterior finishes that required no maintenance. Applying paint to a surface like that is adding something definitely not durable to something that is. It reverses the no maintenance aspect.

http://mlerealty.com/construction/51-general-contractor-information/177-landmarks-commission-says-qdont-paint-that-brickq.html

Reasons why you shouldn't paint brick.

Look up images of Burano, Italy for pictures of houses with shared facades painted up to the line of ownership. It's really beautiful. This reminds me of those houses.
À chacun son goût.

What is that 'string of balls' thing hanging to the left of the back porch. After reading the comments, I still like it, they're young, evidently plan on being there for a while and will keep it maintained. Admit it, it could have been painted etc. far worse.

This looks wonderful! I live in a city that has a lot of painted brick homes, and I think they're gorgeous. My house is brick, and I've been planning on painting it as the brick is nondescript and boring, so you've given me inspiration!

This is their place and I guess I'm glad they love their new improvement. Can't say that I think it's an improvement though. It looks boring now all being the same colour as before the red was separated with the white mortar.

Love it! And I think it actually improves the look of the houses around it.

LOVE the grey brick and yellow doors. However, lose the obviously not functional shutters. They are one of my pet peeves. At least use decorative shutters that would logically be able to cover the windows. Also the "wrought iron" planters and hanging baskets with the coir have got to go. Super tacky. Get some simple, solid colored planters, or make some out of wood. It would be a real improvement. As of right now, the shutters and baskets really cheapen the house.

I am a fan of natural components (interiordesignarts.com shows what I'm talking about) so I would never paint brick, stone or wood and never use non-wooden siding either. But people have rights to do with their home appearance whatever they want. PS the yellow next to the grey looks a little like Nike's new shorts for basketball players.

HA! @MISHKA what in the heck is the point of your comment that yellow and grey looks like Nike shorts?! Whaaat?! Yellow and grey is a wonderfully modern color combination that is in favor with many who prefer modern decorating styles. I think it looks pretty cool and may inspire others on the block to consider painting their homes for some fun. No need to be so conservative and keep things as they are. It's okay to be playful and have fun with your home. More power to you!

Leo.Spino...Yes,SIR. Right away,SIR. Anything you say,SIR. What has got to go has got to GO,SIR! ..........Sheesh.....

@RMBNN - It's a rain chain. They're a decorative alternative to a downspout from the gutter.

My first reaction was wondering what they were thinking painting a row house like this.
After seeing their blog and more photos it does look much better painted. The before looked like rundown government funded housing that we have here in MN. Their neighbors have dirty and broken blinds with a horrible porch, if the neighbors don't care what their own house looks like why would they care if the house next to them is painted.

even if breathable paint were applied, the after looks like a before, and the paint is inappropriate for the streetscape, being in a row of otherwise unpainted brick houses. mis-sized colonial shutters are not appropriate for a 1940's vernacular rowhouse, either. a better investment would be to do research on the architect's intent and to properly repoint both facades & keep the hose breathing & free of mold & spalling.

I would have tidied up the brick and rebuilt that crumbling front porch and steps. oh my...

If your home isn't landmarked or architecturally significant, why not paint it if you think it's drab? Beautiful and brave choice of colors. Hopefully it will inspire your neighbors to do the same!

So perfectly pretty!!! I bet some red geraniums would look brilliant! Great, great job!

Old brick is lovely and painted brick is ho-hum. That is my opinion and I am allowed an opinion. Window boxes would be nice and the other alterations made are lovely, but painted brick - no. I'm surprised they were allowed to do that. Some of the loveliest old places I've seen were similar to this in the Washington DC area and to paint some of those would be a travesty.
I hope painting beautiful old wood furniture and painting charming old brick will go out of fashion SOON.

well. i like it. very brave i have a red brick and have ummed and ahhhed about painting for years. i think it looks great love the colours :)

I could tell you lived near me before I even looked at your blog, and I know full well how much dingy and tired old brick there is around here. This looks 110x better.

Also, if people think you are being offensive to your neighbors, they should take a look at that crappy-ass enclosed front porch and chain link fence next to you. Now that is some serious offense. You did the neighborhood a favor.

Great update! I really dig the gray and yellow combination. I live in the DC area too and have these EXACT row houses in my neighborhood, many of which are painted. People who are anti-painted brick will really hate visiting DC.

Looks great! :) If the next people want to uncover the brick, they too will have a fun DIY project to show off. Win-win! It also looks really special among the other houses in the row, good job! Yellow door looks fabulous too. :)

Me saying, I love your house ....is such an understatement! Me saying that I wish this was my house..is an even bigger understatement! You did GOOD! Love that you are NOT scared of color, your neighbors or any negative feedback on AT!

Sherrme, some people paint brick because some people don't like brick or at least don't like the brick they have.

I like that her home is defined on the left side by an outcrop of brick, but I feel like the right side needs some definition beyond a paint strip?