Cream brick vs red brick: matching the classic Melbourne home

Walk any established Melbourne street and you will see it: rows of red brick, then a run of cream. Both are classics here, and choosing between them is really about matching the home and the street. Here is how we think it through.

The Melbourne story behind each

Both colours carry an era with them, which is why they read the way they do.

• Red brick runs through the older Federation and interwar homes, warm and traditional
• Cream and blonde brick took over through the mid-century, lighter and a bit more modern
• Many streets are a clear mix, so the home next door is your best guide
• A clinker or darker manganese brick often turns up as a feature on both

Neither is right or wrong. The wrong move is a colour that argues with the era of the house.

Which suits your home

Let the house lead and the choice usually makes itself.

• Red brick suits warmer roofs, timber windows and traditional, period detailing
• Cream brick suits lighter, simpler facades and a more contemporary feel
• Look at the roof colour first, as it sets the temperature of the whole palette
• Match the mood of the street rather than trying to stand out from it

If you are matching an extension to an existing home, the existing brick decides it for you. The job then becomes finding the closest match in brick and mortar.

The detail that ties it together

Colour is only half the look. The mortar does the rest.

• A light mortar lifts and softens a red brick
• A matching cream mortar lets a blonde wall read as one clean mass
• A darker joint adds shadow and definition to either colour
• Always judge brick and mortar together on a sample panel, never off a single brick

Get the pairing right and a new wall settles into the street like it was always there.

If you are matching a home or extension, send us a photo of the existing brickwork and your suburb and we will help you land on the right colour and the mortar to go with it.