Updating your windows is an expensive upgrade, so you want to make sure you choose the right window colour. If you have a brick home, standard white windows can be too stark, so here’s what you need to consider to choose the best windows for your exterior.
It’s finally spring! Most of us had a pretty harsh winter and the warmer days are most welcome. Bring on the spring rain and blossoms!
However, with the warmer weather, our thoughts turn quickly to all the updates we need to make to our home’s yards and exteriors don’t they?
eDesign Exterior Colour Consultations
This time of year, our eDesign department gets extra busy helping clients with the best updates for their exteriors. Because let’s face it, if you get a colour choice wrong for your exterior, it’s not as easy as simply repainting a room or returning something.
Exterior projects tend to be labour intensive and costly, so it’s really important to get the colour just perfect the first time.
This is especially true when it comes to investment upgrades like new windows.
Don’t just default to white or black windows
My dear client Carla reached out for help last season. She needed to replace her large metal windows on her classic brick home and wanted to make sure she got it right.
By the way, did you know that window style and colour is one of the first selections you will need to make when you are building a home? And that standard true white windows are too stark to work with most brick and stone?
Many builders simply default to white, and don’t even ask. It’s very common to see exteriors with earthy stone and brick and screaming white windows that in no way relate, and this is why.
White vinyl windows are generally the least expensive, “standard” option too. If you’re planning brick or stone for your exterior, it’s best to budget for a custom window colour that coordinates, you’ll thank yourself in the long run.
Many builders are now offering black windows and these should also be chosen with care, I talked about the black window trend here.
Carla’s original windows were true white and a good example of white windows looking too stark with brick (below).
Carla’s House Before
You can also see that the grids on the original windows are too busy. And the glass surrounding the front entrance lacks the wider profile elements, so it doesn’t relate well to the others.
On the other hand, the large scale of the windows is wonderful and I could see lots of potential here.
Here is a close up of a white window with the brick so you can really see how stark the white looks (below).
Stark white window with earthy red brick
How to Choose the Right Window Colour for Brick
Testing, testing and more testing. I advised that her new windows should be a softer green beige or green gray (cream wasn’t an available option) to relate to the mortar colour. Here is a test of the best green gray option the window manufacturer offered. It looks very similar to a pale green gray in my system, BM Pashmina AF 100 (below). Handy that she owned my large colour boards!
Colour test of Clay windows
You can see that this colour coordinates much better with her mortar colour and looks softer with the red brick.
By the way, so that I can be sure that I’m seeing neutral undertones and colours accurately in my clients photographs for eDesign, I ask for them to take photos of all the finishes with white paper in natural light.
Carla did this for me with her brick (below).
Photo of brick with white paper for colour accuracy
The Before and After
They are planning some new landscaping which is going to make the curb appeal of this home just amazing, but in the meantime, I couldn’t wait to share the dramatic after from just updating the windows and trim to match:
Here’s the before again:
And the after:
AFTER
Beautiful right? The new windows relate perfectly colour wise, so much softer. While she didn’t consult with us on the style of the windows, the original grids were just so busy, especially with the patterned brick. Now the windows have presence but are much cleaner and more current looking.
They also changed the front door from a dated chocolate brown to a more classic black.
Once the new landscaping goes in, this house will be a knockout.
Thank you Carla for allowing me to share your beautiful home!
If you are planning some upgrades to your exterior this season, check out my eDesign consultation packages here. Email us here, if you need help determining which package is best for your project.
PS. The ‘Colour is Relative’ talk I moderated at the KBIS show was video taped, you can watch the entire presentation here!
Related posts:
The Best Colour Advice on Painting your Exterior
Gorgeous! Perfect color and style.
If she weren’t able to change the windows, would whitewashing the brick have improved the appearance?
I always love black windows with Brick. I think it’s because I live in the city, and that combination is very industrial loft looking … Which is what most of the brick structures around here are. But also love it on brick row homes.
What is the brand of windows used? My home is smaller, nut simular, and our existing windiws need painting. ( i want new ones, but not in the budget) i also too off the grids . Yuk. I hated those things. Lol
Wow, beautiful! THAT would bring a smile every time you pulled in the drive. HUGE transformation.
Holy moly, what a fabulous transformation! I hope you show it to us again after she gets her landscaping completed. Hint, hint.
Soooo much better. Great job, Maria! Really effective and helpful post. Thanks
Do you want to always match your trim color to your window color?
Not necessarily, but in this case it makes sense to have it all be the same! Maria
Beautiful upgrade and comforting to know that white (and muntin bar) windows in some cases can be a distracting element as so often I see lovely homes, that to me the windows are screaming (as you have pointed out Maria) ‘look at me, look at me’ … ☺.
-Brenda-
Wow! The “after” looks amazing. Updated and classic at the same time.
I’m surprised her HOA allowed the window change.
It’s become a bit of a battle in my subdivision.
I know people love the low maintenance of brick, but this seems like a perfect house to paint. I think the new color windows are an improvement but painted brick would have brought a breath of fresh air into it
Hi Maria, I’m glad you tackled this question. Where I live, brick houses are the norm. In my neighbourhood, I’ve observed that many people replace their windows with the same colour they started with, meaning a lot of white, french vanilla (looks like straight up yellow), and brown windows on houses built in the 80s like mine was. My brick alone has rust, tan, pinky-red, and dark grey in it. White or yellowy-cream with that is just not cute!
This was a post I didn’t want to read. The house I completely renovated has similar brick with white windows, trim, porch, garage doors, etc. I knew the white wasn’t right, but changing any white elements would make the remaining white look worse. To make matters worse, there is creamy yellow siding on three sides that look crisp with the white trim. The underlying problem was a clean dirty mix of siding and brick. Sigh.
I decided to embrace the white and change the black lamppost to white, specify white flowering landscaping, etc. I think it helps, but I must admit after seeing this before and after, my house will bug me a bit.
Don’t let it. Carla’s new windows and trim color are gorgeous of course and a huge improvment, but I personally just prefer the brighter crisper white of the old windows and trim.
Oh Joanne, don’t despair! White trim with red brick is timeless and classic. Look at the beautiful red brick buildings adorned with white trim and windows in such historic places such as Monticello, the campus buildings of the University of Virginia, Boston’s Beacon Hill, Philadelphia, PA, Charleston, SC, Williamsburg, VA, Savannah, GA etc.
First of all, the change in grids and window style is absolutely wonderful to me. I’ve had several brick homes and had to face this issue of window color. While I agree that stark white as a default color is not good, I have found that it does weather a bit over time and is not as bad as some of the other colors which also tend to fade but not in a good way. My main concern when making a window color decision was window treatments inside. It may be old fashioned but I really don’t like to see much contrast in window treatments (even linings) which will show to some degree from street view. For instance…if you have shutters on inside…I think you have to consider what color to used based on window trim from outside. Same thought works with whatever you might use as window treatment. Maria, what color would you suggest using as window treatments considering this new exterior treatment? Of course it would depend on decor of interior…but would the exterior window trim enter into it at all?
The inside of these windows are white. I would not recommend this colour for all the interior windows.Thanks for your comment, good question! Maria
I think Katy’s question was related to the color of the the window treatment (drapery lining, roller shade, etc.) facing the exterior – not the color of the window frames on facing inside.
Wow! What a difference! Eliminating all the grids made a big difference also.
Quite an improvement, Thanks for sharing.
Question about exterior window color vs. interior color. I have an orangey brick on the exterior of my house, and the stucco sections are painted BM Sandy Brown (body) and BM Lighthouse Landing (trim). Those colors look great with the brick, and cream-colored windows would be perfect. The problem is that I want the inside grids to be white, not cream, but with vinyl or fiberglass windows, it seems that the exterior color is also the interior color — and I don’t want cream grids inside. What is the solution? I live in Florida, so wood windows aren’t a great option here.
What about when exterior and interior windows must be the same color (builder restricted)? I want clay for my exterior brick house, but not sure what to do about clay interior (and my windows have to be the same color each side). So is it better to choose white exterior even with earthy brown brick, in order to have white inside?
Imo the peachy cream color does not look good at all. Looks dingy. Was so much better white. And the mullions are way too thick, takes up too much of the window. The additional mullions above the door make it seem top heavy.
I would have: 1. Used an off-white or black color window frames. 2. Done the picture window above the door in one big window. 3. Done the other windows in a vertical (half-arched, single hung) 50/50 split, so there is only one mullion coming down the center instead of 2 or 3. This would give a much sleeker look outside and provide a much bigger viewing area looking out.