When it comes to selecting the exterior material for your home, one of the pivotal decisions you'll face is choosing your exterior façade, the “face” of your home. Year after year, building with brick remains a classic choice for many reasons. Let’s explore why building with brick is most ideal through 7 key factors to consider.

1. Durability and Longevity: Brick is renowned for its unparalleled durability. Unlike vinyl siding, which can be prone to damage from harsh weather conditions, impact, and even pests, brick can withstand the test of time. A well-constructed brick home can last for generations, requiring minimal maintenance over the years. This longevity not only saves you money on repairs and replacements but also adds significant value to your property.

2. Aesthetic Appeal: One of the most compelling reasons to choose brick is its timeless beauty. A brick home never goes out of style. The warm, natural earthy tones of brick complement a wide range of architectural styles, from rustic or traditional to modern. Glen-Gery brick is also available in sleek, modern styles with glazed and Klaycoat finishes, which allow the homeowner to choose a custom color. Unlike vinyl siding, which can fade, warp, or discolor over time, brick maintains its original appearance for decades, ensuring your home always looks stunning.

3. Energy Efficiency: Clay brick is an excellent insulator, helping to regulate indoor temperatures more effectively than vinyl siding. The thermal mass property of brick allows it to absorb and store heat during the day and release it slowly at night, reducing your reliance on heating and cooling systems. This translates to lower energy bills and a more comfortable living environment year-round.

4. Low Maintenance: While vinyl siding is often marketed as low maintenance, it is not maintenance-free. Over time, it can accumulate dirt, algae, and mold, requiring regular cleaning and sometimes even replacement due to damage. Brick, on the other hand, requires minimal maintenance as there's no need to worry about fading or warping.

5. Fire Resistance: Brick is a non-combustible material, offering superior fire resistance compared to vinyl siding, which can melt and ignite in the presence of extreme heat. Building your home with brick provides an added layer of safety and peace of mind.

6. Eco-Friendly Choice: Brick is an environmentally friendly choice for your home's exterior. It is made from natural clay and requires minimal processing compared to the energy-intensive manufacturing of vinyl siding. Brick also has a long-life cycle, reducing the need for replacements, which can contribute to landfill waste.

7. Increased Property Value: Brick homes often have a higher resale value compared to vinyl-sided homes. The timeless appeal, durability, and energy efficiency of brick make it an attractive option for homebuyers, which can translate into a better return on your investment when it's time to sell.

In conclusion, while vinyl siding has its merits, building your home with brick offers a myriad of benefits that make it the more ideal choice for many homeowners. Its energy efficiency, low maintenance requirements, fire resistance, eco-friendliness, and potential for increased property value make it a wise investment that will stand the test of time. So, if you're looking to build a home that combines elegance, longevity, and functionality, brick is the way to go.

Designing in Brick: Finishes & Textures

Of all the building products commonly used today, brick holds a special place in the lexicon of home design. Like stone, brick’s lifespan is measured in centuries. Its wide variety of colors, finishes, and masonry techniques are what continue to make it an indispensable tool for creating texture.

Specifically, brick is perfect for adding variety and dimension to a home. While traditionally it has adorned exteriors, in the last century, masons, interior designers and homeowners have found new ways to bring brick indoors through accent walls, fireplaces, and other features.

Because brick is available in many different finishes, it allows architects, designers, and homeowners to create a wide range of textural effects inside a home.

Four Ways to Mix Finishes and Textures

Layered Texture 
Layered texture involves creating intentional depth within a room, which adds interest and richness. 

One of the most popular ways to accomplish this is with a background brick accent wall. A critical piece of maximizing the impact of such a background, however, is keeping in mind what's happening in the foreground. Choose furniture, fabrics, wall colors, and other materials that create layering in front of the wall 

PRO TIP: For interior brick walls, choose a brick with a smooth finish to make dusting easier. 

Contracting Texture
Contrasting texture is an eternal mainstay of home design trends - it's what draws eyes around a house's interior or exterior and encourages curiosity and delight. 

Use contrasting textures to add visual interest and break up a monochromatic color palette. Look beyond the obvious elements like walls and furnishings. How can you use fabrics, artwork, and object placement to create contrast in a room or on a house's exterior?

PRO TIP: Contrasting textures are by no means limited to textures in the same color family. Be bold - for example, contrast burgundy brick exterior walls with brightly colored fixtures and paint choices. 

Tactile Texture
Tactile texture to a texture you can physically touch - and though you may not always interact with materials by touching them, the visual effect of such textures make an impression. 

Use varied finishes, ranging from smooth to rough, to create dimension in a room. For example, you can use two types of brick finishes to add multiple layers of tactile texture to an interior accent wall. You can also use different brick finishes to create the same effect on a house's exterior. 

PRO TIP: Brick is particularly good at creating tactile texture because of its wide range of finishes: smooth, wirecut, handmade, glazed, etc. 

Visual Texture
Different brick textures and finishes

Brick's wide range of textures and finishes keeps its at the forefront of design trends. Here are some categories from which to choose:

1. Handmade bricks: These bricks are individually crafted, creating a slightly varied texture from brick to brick for endless combinations. These are a good choice for creating tactile texture. 
2. Glazed bricks: These feature a smooth, glossy finish in a wide range of colors, making them perfect for contrasting textures. As an added bonus, the glaze makes these bricks impervious to the elements.
3. Molded bricks: Molded bricks have softened edges, giving them a subtle contour that adds texture. Combined with the variety of colors available, they are excellent for layered texture profiles. 
4. Klaycoat^®  bricks: These are stately and modern and are an excellent option for visual texture. These are available in a smooth and wirecut texture. 

Best practices for adding texture and finishes to design
Keep the following tips in mind:

Don’t overdo it.
Too much texture can cause confusion and make a home look busy and unfocused. Determine your style ahead of time and curate your pieces to fit this goal.

Start big and work downward.
Begin by choosing the largest source of texture, and add elements based on that. On a home’s exterior, this would be the exterior walls; on an interior, this could be an accent wall, fireplace, or another focal point.

Lean on your designer.
When in doubt, consult a designer — particularly if you are a homeowner taking on a large DIY project. A skilled interior designer can help you plan out your project and make tasteful choices.

Conclusion

Brick is one of the best home-building products for design choices. Not only is it unmatched in durability, but it also added incredible texture to a home's exterior and interior. 

Some of the best ways to create visual appeal are through layered, contrasting, tactile, and visual textures.

Brick is available in a range of finishes and colors, and homeowners and designers can even mix different types to add texture to a room. Glen-Gery produces handmade, glazed, molded, and klaycoat^® bricks, among other popular types.

Working with a designer can help you avoid texture overload and can open your eyes to new ways of achieving your goals. Visit a Brickworks Design Studio to receive a one-on-one consultation with a product expert. 

Design and Color Trends for 2023

Today, builders and architects are finishing 2022 projects and predicting what’s to come in this new year ahead. What are the colors, textures, and finishes that will stay popular? What will we leave behind in 2023? And perhaps most anticipated, Glen-Gery's debut of their inaugural brick color of the year.

In 2022 we saw calming, nature-inspired tones. Serene shades of blue and green were consistently top color choices. While these soothing tones are expected to stay popular in 2023, warmer, richer colors with earthy undertones will take center stage. In fact, home design experts predict homeowners will become bolder and more creative in their color choices throughout the coming year, even opting for shades of pink and blush.

Design Colors to Expect in 2023

2023 promises to be a year of earth tones and warm neutrals with pops of pink and blush colors. The year ahead may also bring a surprise resurgence of pastel colors in elements like furniture and design accents.

Textures and Finishes to Expect in 2023

If there’s one thing architects and designers are sure of, it’s that 2023 will be all about texture. When a home’s exterior has a monochromatic color scheme, mixing home-building materials like stone or brick can create definition. Mixed-material exteriors add character and interest to a home’s outward appearance.

The use of texture inside of the house is expected to continue trending as well. With remote and hybrid work environments, homeowners spend more time at home. The use of texture can help separate indoor spaces. Mixing textures becomes an important element to add depth and interest to open rooms, and define an alcove or nook.

What Trends Have Phased Out?

Home design trends we expect to see less of in the coming year include faux finishes, stark whites and grays, and, in commercial design, smooth textures. Moving forward, homeowners are looking for authentic and realistic materials to add warmth with hygge-inspired colors that evoke a cozy and comfortable feel.

Conclusion

Home design trends for 2023 can be summed up in three words: texture, warmth, and coziness. While warm neutrals and earth tones lead the color palette, adding definition and visual interest with textured finishes will increase in popularity. For both interior and exterior finishes, brick and stone surfaces offer the best option for adding depth and dimension because of their ability to integrate light and shadows, creating variations in textual elements.

View more in the 2023 Style Guide.

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