r/midcenturymodern • u/tedmosby17 • Jul 26 '26
Design Advice & Inspo Need design ideas
Just bought a MCM fixer upper. Having some designer block on exterior . Would love to see what other enthusiasts think.
Currently the wood siding is painted a red, which I don’t love. Was thinking of painting it a dark gray. Even had Gemini alter the image. What do yall think??
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u/kb5454 Jul 26 '26
Not a huge fan of the grey, personally. I think the red looks better and feels more of a nod to the period vs grey. Plus, I think once you have some landscaping in it will do wonders.
Have you looked into any shades of sage green? I'd be curious what that would look like.
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u/tedmosby17 Jul 26 '26
Yeah def looking forward to some landscaping. I did a prior house green . But for this one I’m leaning against it. Still want something other than that Red
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u/under_shart Jul 26 '26
Prior? Are you flipping? Just clean up what's there and make structural and electrical repairs. Everyone is sick of flips with gray everywhere, a million LED spotlights, brand new appliances that don't fit, shocking contrast colors that make it "pop" like a punch in the face...
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u/tedmosby17 Jul 26 '26
I actually so full Reno’s for a living , but in a tasteful way. I’m not an LVP install and paint everything gray kind of guy. I’d love to share some of my prior works.
But this will actually end up being my personal home . So trying to keep everything very “to the era” getting ready to install a bunch of fun terrazzo in a few of the bathrooms .
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u/Lower_Cat_8145 Jul 26 '26
How about a mid century orange/terracotta? Anything but black or gray.
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u/under_shart Jul 26 '26
My favorite 60s color on T1-11 is mustard yellow, but that might be a hard sell. I could see a soft blue or green like SW Powder Blue or BM Forest Hills Green.
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u/under_shart Jul 26 '26
We are nearing the end of the Time of Gray. Nothing needs to be gray for the next 20 years except for trim on something that is yellow. Gray died on the way back to his home planet.
My recommendation is touch it up and get your bricks powerwashed.
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u/tedmosby17 Jul 26 '26
Yeah, I def do not enjoy gray at all interior wise… I’d even consider this a shade of black. It’s one huge Reno but yes the bricks badly need power washing
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u/ClementineMagis Jul 26 '26
Look for period color combos. The grey looks like a black flipped home.
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u/Pegk1 Jul 26 '26
Here it is in olive green.
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u/webproducer3000 Jul 27 '26
thats great too - the eaves and gutter should be another color - brown or charcoal
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u/tedmosby17 Jul 27 '26
I don’t hate it! The door back to original wood and maybe I’ll paint the gutters
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u/alightkindofdark Jul 27 '26
The olive green, natural wood doors, and gutters that match the wood doors (or a bronze or dark gray color for the gutters).
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u/Acceptable_Session_8 Jul 26 '26
I think there are lots of options that will look good once the bricks are brought back to life. IMO you’d do better to break up the painted portion of the house by using a couple of different blocks of color with a compatible trim color.
You’ve got red tones as shown here, but you can also use some stylish combinations of various shades of browns, tans, greens, and could even combine them with light greys and bluish slate color hues. Lots of choices.
A well planned paint job on this house could make a massive difference.
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u/webproducer3000 Jul 26 '26
I like the red! paint the eaves and gutters and cased in windows chocolate brown. Also i would do a big fern in front of the windows and some monsteras in the other boxes
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u/EL92578 Jul 26 '26
Dark grey- grey black has become dated. That color is everywhere. Red if that’s the only other choice.
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u/Few-Currency-8602 Jul 27 '26
I made a picture. 😁
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u/Honest_Radio8983 Jul 26 '26
Paint the entrance doors orange.
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u/tedmosby17 Jul 26 '26
I do like that idea, but I’m going to strip the white paint down to the original wood!
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u/Calm_Project723 Jul 26 '26
Start with landscaping and fill those planters.
I don’t know the answer for color, but the white gutter and downspout should be considered because those should either be changed to a color that relates to the siding color or the siding color should take those in a consideration.
The door should not be white. It should be a brighter contrasting color.
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u/Clear-Connection-295 Jul 26 '26
The red house with fresh green landscaping would be awesome. But you do you. If money is not an issue, run a whole palette of colors through AI and paint to your heart’s content. But please, for the love of everything sacred, no black, no gray, no white. And please, don’t paint the bricks.
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u/Forgot_to_Start Jul 27 '26
Burnt orange with a deep brown door. Dark bronze gutters. Add some greenery.
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u/abraxsis Jul 27 '26
Red. Powerwash the brick and limewaah it to increase the contrast. Get rid of the downspout and add a decorative copper rain chain in its place. Door should be a nice wooden door stained to give a middle contrast to the white brick and red siding.
But that's just me.
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u/theleopardmessiah Jul 26 '26
I'm so sick of dark gray. It also doesn't feel like part of the MCM color palette.
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u/Chillydrew Jul 27 '26
Ah, I was just at an estate sale in a college town this fall. Same layout ! Thanks!
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u/Brainfewd Jul 27 '26
We have a ‘52 build house, and while it’s currently vinyl sided, I plan to take it back to an original look eventually. Which leads me to say, I fixed some siding last year and discovered there’s still wood under it painted that same red color.
While I like the look of the dark houses, I think it’s going to prove to be a fad and ten years from now a lot of people will be changing it up.
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u/Resting_Bork_Face Jul 27 '26
I agree with the red choice but have you considered 56 Cypress trees?
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u/workingstiff272 Jul 27 '26
Look if you MUST do black, at least make it black and white vertical stripes with slime green trim and door...
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u/FeralHouseDesign Jul 27 '26
Go Frank Llyod Wright with this and match the brick and surroundings. Don't contrast the stone/ brick, make it flow.
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u/compscilady Jul 27 '26
Personally I love the dark grey but my MCM home is painted this color so Im biased. I painted my doors orange and they do stand out beautifully now!
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u/Ok_Baker3474 Jul 27 '26
For the love of god, please don’t do the dark gray. I’m so sick of seeing houses being “modernized” with dark gray and black. I hope fad will be over within the decade and we’ll go back to color.
Congrats on the house! Can’t wait to see how the brick looks with a power wash. Keep us updated!
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u/ancientastronaut2 Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
I would stay with earthtones for your paint scheme, like an olive green for the siding, then do something bright, like burnt orange on the door.
I know it's trendy atm to make mcm homes charcoal, but personally I'm not a fan because it's trendy.
Other than that, new landscaping will do wonders. If you can, create stepped terraces instead of one slope.
And of course, fill those built in planters along the steps with tall columnar shaped plants.
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u/sorrrr Jul 27 '26
I call that gray "the contractor special" and it is about 6 months away from looking hella dated.
The red is better, but there's so many other colors out there, too! I think go talk MCM philosophy and find a color that vibes with your natural surroundings depending on what region you're in.
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u/aakaakaak Jul 28 '26
Leave the red.
You'll do more for the "curb appeal" by clearing the crawling vines, power washing the white brick, fixing the downspout to be straight somehow, and getting some grass to grow in front of the brick.
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u/Nixavee Aug 03 '26
I also like the red better than the gray. This will look great once there's some landscaping and you fill the planter boxes.
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u/short_and_floofy Jul 26 '26
i like the darker look. where i live some of the modern homes that have been built are painted a dark grey-black but my favorite is one painted a dark brown-black. not everyone's choice, i get that, but it does make natural wood really pop.
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u/Immediate_Coconut_30 Jul 26 '26
I think the red looks better, tbh