Painted brick can be OK if done in a neutral color. Bright colors should be avoided.

My daughter's house was a natural light grey brick with sparatic bright red bricks.  This really bothered her so she went to the paint store and told them that she wanted to paint over all the brick!  They gave her a paint for concrete and she choose a soft yellow and they had they're roof done a with shingle that had all the natural colours of cedar and her house and the paint job still look beautiful today, 6years later.

It is not only ok in certain cases, but should in fact be prescribed to many an ugly-bricked house.  If you've the money to sandblast your period brick and do a little tuck pointing, then certainly that's better than just painting over it.  But I can think of many brick homes that would lose nothing and gain much curb appeal if painted out a nice neutral colour.  

I think it is best to stain bricks instead of painting over them, that way the color stays on better and the paint does not chip. I know of a business that does it in Quebec, not sure if it is present everywhere in Canada. Of course, that means that the filler in between bricks is also stained. But for the sake of "saving face", I would definitely consider staining/painting the brick - especially if it had been previously painted an ugly color and it was the only thing standing between me and owning an otherwise beautiful home.

I like the idea of painted bricks, however I much prefer the idea of stained bricks. Sarah Richardson on the second season of her show Sarah's House found a company here in T.O. that does it. The can stain just the bricks, or the mortar in between the bricks as well. I think that this technique is such a great way to spruce up the outside of your house, and to add a ton of curb-appeal. Of course, you must be careful of which colours you paint. I much prefer neutrals such as greys or beiges rather than any bright colours.

Brick is so rare here in the west and therefore a sweet treat for the eyes. It beats faux river rocks any day. My question (and it's sort of related) is, can you paint new shingles? I've just had my garage done and each time I look outside it leaves me cold. There's no more contrast. What can I do?

The only problem with painting bricks is that you must KEEP painting bricks. That is the reason I love my all brick home, because I dont have to paint it or have it painted every 3-4 yrs. I guess if it was an old house that was a conglomeration of all sorts of finishes outside, painting would unite it and that might be worth the upkeep!

I think that painted brick can look great if done properly and carefully.  The last house we bought was a lovely house but the brick was a nasty pumpkin orange.  We asked at Home Depot and they sold us a self priming paint in a soft sage green that has been on the house for 6 years and we still get lots of compliments on it.