That ‘Ugly’ 70s Brown Brick Isn’t the Problem (Your Trim Is)

The Scenario

A homeowner recently asked:

"Blonde/Brown brick - lean in or bag?"

The GardenOwl Diagnosis

The Assessment

You’ve got a very 1970s brown/blonde brick house: low roofline, dark Mission Brown trim everywhere, a big flat lawn in front, and not much else. When considering how to improve your home's curb appeal, you and your wife are staring at that brick and wondering if it's just 'ugly,' unaware that the building is actually suffering from a classic case of Contrast Collapse.

“Is the brick just ugly? Do we bag it or paint it? Or can we save it with better trim?”

You’re not wrong that it feels dated. But the brick itself isn’t the villain here.

What’s dating the house is:

• Dark brown trim and fascia wrapped around every edge
• No contrast against the brick
• A flat, featureless lawn that gives the brick nowhere to hide

You’re amplifying the worst tones in the brick instead of the best. So the question isn’t “Bag the brick?” It’s “Change the frame or destroy the artwork?”

Spoiler: fix the frame.

The Trap: Why This Brick Looks So 1970s

This is a classic exterior color trap:

1. Dark brown trim on warm brick
   Mission Brown trim is dragging out every muddy, orangey, dull tone in that brick. There’s zero air, zero contrast. Everything just blends into one heavy, brown mass.

2. No light surfaces to bounce color
   The eye reads contrast, not absolute color. Right now your only “light” surface is the lawn (which is green, not light). The house reads as one low, dark band.

3. Flat yard = no visual layering
   It’s lawn… then wall. No middle layer of shrubs, grasses, or a small tree to break up the brick and soften the transitions. That makes the brick feel like a giant, continuous backdrop you can’t escape.

4. Your brain blames the permanent thing
   People assume “Brick is expensive and permanent, so if I hate it, I have to cover it.” That’s how you end up with bagged or painted brick that then peels, mildews, or locks you into repainting every few years.

The brick color you’ve got is actually very workable. It’s warm, it has some sandy tones, and it’s not orange-school-house bad. It’s just framed horribly.

Don’t bag it. Don’t start there.

The Solution (Deep Dive): Fix the Frame, Then the Foreground

Step 1: Pick the Right Trim Family

You’re already smart enough to test colors on that temporary fence. Good. Now pick from the right family of colors:

You want:

• Warm creamy whites or soft greiges
  Nothing stark, nothing blue, nothing that screams "builder white."
  Think:
  • Benjamin Moore White Dove
  • Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee
  • Sherwin-Williams Shoji White
  • Sherwin-Williams Accessible Beige (light, warm greige)

These shades:

• Pull out the sandy, lighter specks in your brick
• Give you contrast without making the brick look dirty
• Look intentional, like “We chose this brick” instead of “We’re stuck with this brick”

You want to avoid:

• Cool whites (blue/gray undertone) – make the brick read more orange and dirty
• Dead flat tan/beige trim – you’ll just recreate the same brown blob
• High-contrast jet black trim everywhere – it can go harsh fast, especially under trees and with a low 70s roofline

How to test on that temporary fence

1. Buy sample quarts, not color cards. Paint lies on paper.
2. Paint 2–3 big rectangles (at least 2’ x 2’) on your temporary fence right next to the brick.
3. Look at them:
   • Morning
   • Midday
   • Late afternoon/early evening
4. Pay attention to:
   • Which one makes the brick look less muddy
   • Which one doesn’t flare blinding white in full sun

Circle the one that makes the brick look sandy and warm, not orange and angry.

Step 2: Where to Use Light vs Dark

Don’t just pick a good color and then spray it on every surface. Use it strategically.

Use the lighter creamy white/greige on:

• Fascia and soffits
• Window trim
• Garage door (unless you’re making it a feature, which I wouldn’t here)
• Gutters (if you’re repainting or replacing)

This creates a clean, continuous "frame" around the house and breaks up that slab of brown.

Use a deeper accent color on:

• Front door
• Maybe shutter panels if you have them (but 70s ranches usually don’t need fake shutters)
• Possibly one feature element like a beam or porch post

For the deeper accent, think:

• Dark bronze
• Warm charcoal (hint of brown, not blue)
• Very deep olive

Why not pure black? On this brick, surrounded by trees and shade, black goes from "modern" to "cartoon outline" quickly. A softer dark still reads modern but is more forgiving.

Step 3: Break Up the Lawn With a Curving Bed

Right now, your house is sitting naked in the middle of a bowling green.

You need a middle layer between lawn and brick.

Sketch out a curving bed that:

• Starts near the left front corner of the house
• Bows out toward the street about 6–10 feet
• Sweeps across the front and returns near the right side

No straight line trenches. The house is long and low; a gentle curve breaks that up and feels more natural.

Basic bed build (without overcomplicating it)

1. Lay it out with a hose or spray paint.
   Stand in the street; adjust until it looks balanced and wide enough.

2. Edge it.
   Use a flat spade to cut a crisp edge, or install a solid edging (steel, paver, or concrete). Don’t rely on plastic wiggle edging; it heaves and looks cheap.

3. Kill/strip the grass inside the bed.

   • Either physically remove the sod
   • Or scalp it, cover with cardboard and 3–4" of mulch and wait a season (if you’re not in a rush)

4. Top with 3" of mulch.
   Shredded hardwood or pine bark. No rock mulch over clay—it bakes roots and reflects heat onto that brick.

Now you’ve got a “stage” in front of the brick.

Step 4: What to Plant (Low-Maintenance, Modern, Not Fussy)

You want structure and texture, not a flower circus.

Backbone: Evergreen Shrubs

Plant a rhythm of evergreen shrubs along the new bed, not soldiers in a row, but soft drifts.

Depending on your climate (ask your local nursery for exact varieties), look for:

• Small evergreen hollies or boxwood-type shrubs (3–4' mature height)
• Compact inkberry holly (in wetter/cooler climates)
• Dwarf yews (if deer aren’t a problem)

Why evergreens?

• They anchor the house year-round
• They break up the brick into visual chunks
• They keep the yard from looking empty in winter

Texture: Ornamental Grasses

Add 3–5 clumps of ornamental grasses in key spots (corners, between shrubs):

• Switchgrass (Panicum) – native, upright, great fall color
• Little bluestem – native, beautiful blue-green to rust tones
• Feather reed grass (like ‘Karl Foerster’) – vertical, clean look

Why grasses?

• Movement and lightness against heavy brick
• They read as modern without feeling sterile

Feature: One Small Tree

Your low, sprawling 70s house benefits from a small ornamental tree near one side of the entry or between windows:

• Serviceberry (native, spring flowers, fall color)
• Redbud (if your climate supports it)
• Japanese maple (if you want a bit more ornamental feel and have partial shade)

Place it so:

• It doesn’t block the door or main window completely
• It softens a long run of brick
• It gives you dappled light on that new lighter trim

Step 5: Respect the Brick, Don’t Fight It

Once the trim and plantings are right, the brick stops being the star and becomes the backdrop.

You’re not trying to pretend it’s a white stucco cube. It is a 70s brick ranch. Own that, just upgrade it.

• Warm creamy trim = pulls out sandy tones
• Deep, warm accent door = gives you a focal point
• Layered planting = breaks up the wall and lawn, adds depth

All of that is cheaper and lower maintenance than bagging/painting the brick and then babysitting it for the next 20 years.

Visualizing the Result: Use GardenDream as Your Safety Net

You’re already on the right track wanting to see it before you commit. Testing paint on a fence is smart; go one step further.

Upload a photo of the front of your house into GardenDream and treat it like tracing paper over your existing house:

• Re-color the trim and fascia to your short list (White Dove vs Shoji White vs Accessible Beige) directly on the photo.
• Darken just the front door to a bronze or charcoal and see how it shifts the whole composition.
• Sketch in the new curving bed and drop in shrubs, grasses, and a small tree so you can see massing and heights.

This is your blueprint and your “don’t-waste-money” filter:

• You’ll see instantly if a white is too stark against the brick.
• You’ll see if that tree makes sense on the left vs the right.
• You’ll see how much planting you actually need to balance the house (usually less than people think, if it’s placed right).

Instead of repainting trim twice or redoing a bed you hate, you burn the bad ideas in the sandbox first using our Exterior Design App.