Brick House Colors
Brick is the one exterior color you didn't choose and mostly can't change. So every scheme that works starts the same way: read the brick you have, then pick trim, door, and shutters that agree with it. This page does both, and lets you preview all of it on your own house.
Try "paint the trim Alabaster and the door black" · The brick stays untouched unless you ask · Free previews every day
Trim Colors for Red Brick
Get the trim right and the house looks intentional instead of inherited. Guess, and the brick punishes you — its undertones are strong enough to turn the wrong white yellow and the wrong gray blue. Every color below is real and buyable, and every card opens the visualizer on your own photo.
Alabaster (SW 7008)
The safest warm white on the market — soft enough not to glare against orange-red brick, clean enough to still read as white from the street.
White Dove (BM OC-17)
A touch softer and slightly grayer than Alabaster, which makes it the better warm white when your brick leans brown or has gray mortar.
Creamy (SW 7012)
A true cream with a yellow base — it flatters orange-toned brick the way original 1950s trim did, without looking dingy.
Navajo White (BM OC-95)
The deepest cream here; it warms up brown and tan-flecked brick and hides brick dust and weather far better than a bright white.
Accessible Beige (SW 7036)
A greige for people who find white trim too stark — its gray side calms purple-red and cooler brick instead of fighting it.
Iron Ore (SW 7069)
The modern move: near-black trim makes red brick look richer and more current, and it works on every brick undertone because it argues with none of them.
One trade habit worth stealing: brush a two-foot patch of the trim color on a board and hold it against the brick on the shady side of the house, then the sunny side. Brick shifts between sun and shade more than almost any siding material. Or skip the board and flip through all six on a photo of your house in a minute.
Three Complete Brick House Schemes
If you want a finished answer instead of a parts list, start here. Each is a proven combination with a real photo, and each opens the visualizer so you see it on your own house, not someone else's.
Classic Red Brick + Cream Trim + Black Door
The scheme that never dates: keep the brick, warm the trim to a cream instead of a stark white, and anchor the entry with a true black door.
Red Brick + Sage Accents
Sage green sits opposite red on the color wheel, so it calms brick instead of competing with it — use it on gables, siding sections, or shutters with a soft white trim.
Painted White Brick + Black Accents
The full transformation: warm white over the brick, matching trim so nothing outlines, and black on the door, gutters, and light fixtures for contrast.
Trim, Door, and Shutters — the Brick Stays As Is
With the trim settled, the door and shutters carry the personality. They are small areas, which makes them the cheapest thing on a brick house to get boldly right.
Black front doors are the perennial winner against red brick; deep greens and navy run close behind — their coolness plays off the warm masonry. We rank the full field, with previews, on the front door color page. Shutters follow the same logic but reward restraint. On brick they look best in one deep color repeated exactly — never a second accent. Shutter colors for red brick are a big enough question that they get their own page in the shutters guide, including the black-versus-green decision and what to do when the shutters are vinyl.
Upload the photo. The brick stays untouched, and you can swap trim, door and shutters one at a time.
From Cream to Near-Black
Eighteen proven brick companions — crisp and creamy whites, calm greiges, and the deep greens and near-blacks that make red masonry look expensive. Hover for the name, click to try it.
Should You Actually Paint the Brick?
Sometimes no trim color rescues the brick: additions in mismatched brick, heavy patching, a purple-red you have hated for a decade. Painting brick works, and painted-brick houses sell well right now — go in clear-eyed anyway.
Uniform, Modern Surface
- A film that sits on top of the masonry — effectively permanent, since stripping it off is brutal and rarely complete
- Needs repainting roughly every ten to fifteen years
- Changes how the wall handles moisture; on old, soft brick, trapped moisture can spall the faces off in freeze-thaw climates
- Have someone who knows masonry look first
Texture and Forgiveness
- A mineral coating that penetrates the brick instead of filming over it, so the wall keeps breathing
- Weathers by softly eroding into an aged, mottled look
- You can wash portions back off in the first day or two for a distressed finish
- The middle path between bare brick and a flat, uniform paint job
Preview before anything: the visualizer keeps the texture and mortar lines, so a painted-brick test looks like painted brick, not a flat overlay. For most whole-house whites, these are the colors that actually work at that scale:
Shoji White (SW 7042)
The painted-brick favorite — warm and slightly muted, so a whole wall of it never turns glaring in full sun.
Greek Villa (SW 7551)
Brighter than Shoji White but still warm; the pick when you want the crisp "white brick farmhouse" look.
Swiss Coffee (BM OC-45)
A classic cream-white that keeps painted brick looking established rather than freshly flipped.
Blank Canvas (BEHR DC-003)
Behr’s warm designer white — a budget-friendly equivalent if the masonry paint is coming from the big-box store.
Read the Brick Before You Buy Anything
Start With the Mortar
Gray mortar means the house already carries a cool neutral, and grayed whites and greiges will slot in without a fight. Cream or buff mortar means the house was built around warmth. A trim color close to the mortar almost never fails.
Find the Undertone
Hold a sheet of pure white paper flat against the brick in daylight. Most "red" brick turns out orange-red, some leans purple or maroon, older brick reads brown with tan and charcoal flecks. You can't see this from the driveway; you can see it in one minute with paper.
Know What Reverses
Trim, door, and shutters repaint in a weekend. The brick itself does not — paint films over masonry and changes how the wall breathes, and that wall needs repainting forever after. It's a one-way door. Preview it, sleep on it, then decide.
More Colors That Love Red Brick
Eight more proven brick companions — crisp and creamy whites, calm greiges, and the deep greens and near-blacks that make red masonry look expensive. Tap any swatch to preview it on your house.
Brick House Color FAQ
How do I pick a trim color for red brick?
Start with the mortar, not the brick: gray mortar means the house already carries a cool neutral, cream or buff mortar means it was built around warmth. Then find the undertone by holding a sheet of pure white paper against the brick in daylight — orange-red brick wants warm trim or true black, purple-red can carry a cooler greige.
Should I paint my brick?
You can, but it is effectively permanent — stripping paint off masonry is brutal and rarely complete, the surface needs repainting roughly every ten to fifteen years, and a film of paint changes how the wall handles moisture. Painted-brick houses do sell well right now, so go in clear-eyed rather than skip it.
What's the difference between paint and limewash on brick?
Paint gives you a uniform, modern surface that films over the brick. Limewash is a mineral coating that penetrates the brick instead, so the wall keeps breathing — it weathers by softly eroding, which some people love for the aged, mottled look, and you can even wash portions back off in the first day or two.
What door color works best against red brick?
Black front doors are the perennial winner against red brick; deep greens and navy run close behind because their coolness plays off the warm masonry. Shutters follow the same logic but reward restraint — one deep color repeated exactly, never a second accent.
Related Styles and Surfaces
Brick runs through most traditional American house types. The ranch guide covers the long, low brick ranch, and the craftsman guide handles brick-and-shingle combinations.
The long, low brick ranch
Brick-and-shingle combinations
When stucco and brick undertones have to agree
One photo of your house, every trim, door, and painted-brick idea on this page — free while in beta, right in the browser on any phone or computer.