I am married to the most wonderful man….he listens to all these ideas in my head…so patiently—gives me time to figure them all out—keeps listening—and really does give me free-rein when it comes to decorating. We have the same taste…which is a plus—when I mentioned painting the brick—at first he questioned it a little. “Well can we get the paint off someday if we don’t want it painted?”, sorry no, it is there to stay. “Oh, well, ok—yeah sure—go for it—I am sure it will look awesome.”
I have been thinking about this for a good year….realizing I can never go back—and finally I am good with that. While we were coming home from breakfast on New Year’s Day we drove by this gorgeous house that had a whitewashed brick—we both looked at it and said LOVE THAT! So, I knew I was good to go..thanks honey….love you bunches!
Thanks for your encouragement! I sure do love the comments!!! Keep them coming! Thanks!
Brick in natural…before the makeover ;) The only cleaning I did was to vacuum really well.
Used a large pyrex measure cup. I had the paint on hand—just the white from the mantle. I poured in 2 cups.
I mixed in slowly 1.5 C of water. My brick was dark so I didn’t want to water the paint down too much.
The consistency was a little bit thinner than glue.
I had 2 old rags on hand, some rubber gloves and a Prudy paint brush.
Sorry for the poor picture quality…wanted to show how to brush the paint on (be careful of splashes!) I brushed on 3 bricks and then pounces the rag to take some paint off. Also, before I started I taped off perimeters.
Took about 2 hours start to finish!!! Not bad for a FREE project (well, I do have to replace my measuring cup…but that is it!)
Tulip picture not staying….just playin around…SOOO excited what we found to put there!
The vases are being filled—-oh, you want to know with what?? Stay tuned!
Stay tuned….more of this mantel redo coming soon ;)
It is coming together…..;)
wow, you did it! I'm chicken to paint brick – –
Wow this turned out amazing! I bet you're really glad you took that risk! I hope you'll share on my linky party Friday! http://www.lovelycraftyhome.com
I have been thinking about whitewashing my fireplace recently. Yours is so beautiful that it has me even more motivated! Did you clean the brick before? If so, with what and how? My fireplace is the same dark brick (might even be darker or more that orange brown brick) YUK It is also floor to ceiling with a large brick mantel and a stoop. Do you think that much white wash would be tacky? one day we will rip out the mantel (or cover it with a wood box and molding and dry wall over the top half of the brick but for now I just want a quick fix to the light sucking monstrosity in my living room.
Wow, that looks great!
I am visiting from the CSI. I am enteries number 86, 87, 88 and 89.
I love chippy paint. Awesome transformation.
Cheri from http://www.itssoverycheri.com and http://www.thediyclub.com
It looks great. Amazing what a coat of paint can do! Can't wait to see the mantel all dressed.
Kim:)
It looks fabulous! So glad that you jumped in and did it! Love it! Can't wait to see what you have in store for the decorating.
I'm with Mandy (above) – I am so glad you were brave enough to paint your fireplace! I (just like your father) was cringing at the thought of painting it but it came out beautifully! I am such a chicken, lol, but you inspire bravery. ~Lori
That looks so good! I wonder if it would work on 1980's type fake brick? It's not really fake, but more like just the face of bricks. It's on the wall behind our woodstove. Hmm…
WOW..I bet you are so glad it's done..It looks great and I can't wait to see what you are going to do next..Love your blog..
Oh my, your mantel/fireplace is gorgeous!!!
I love when I finally have the guts to go through with a project, too. It feels good once you make that decision to go ahead.
The white looks great. Good luck with the rest of your mantel!! :)
It looks awesome! I love it…don't you?
Fabulous!!! I just painted my brick too and it is the best thing I could have done….
Take care,
Lisa
That came out great! Look so nice with your paint color too!
xo – Carmel
Great transformation. It really updates the fireplace I think.
I really love this! I am beginning a love affair with WHITE…so this is just great :) And your wall color is PERFECT with it too!!
Thank you for linking up to "20 Below Thursday"!
Oh that looks great! Thanks for the tutorial!
This looks really nice, so much softer and goes with your wall paint so much better. Thanks for sharing.
Oh dear! I am a first time visitor to your blog. I will have to go out on a limb here and be honest. I think it looked much better before. I think you just ruined your resale value. That's the thing that we have to think of before we do this kind of thing. Sorry.
Totally disagree, as an appraiser, I feel it ups the value.
I usually don't like brick painted, but I think it looks really good. Because it is just a whitewash and not full paint so you can still see the brick. Your wall color shows really well also. Great job.
It's awesome that your husband is so supportive. The whitewashed brick looks wonderful.So soft and lovely. It looks really great against your wall color too.
I like to know I am sure about permanent projects before I start them, too. The whitewash effect gives the room a whole new feel! Looking forward to seeing the mantle display!
It looks wonderful! Such an improvement!
Very brave. Some have the talent to envision a project complete, so no worries. great job, it really up-dates the room.
Oh My! I LOVE this. I have two fireplaces with massive amounts of brick. One I think I am leaving alone (the brick is somewhat interesting) but the other I was planning on painting…I may whitewash…because this looks marvelous!
Wow, it looks beautiful! My husband refuses to paint brick but this could be a happy compromise. Great job!
Roeshel
I love the white wash — it came out fabulous.
Cheri
This is beautiful! We bought our home last year and the yellow tone of the brick bugs me to no end. (It's yellow because they used whatever poly they had on hand to go over it—the house is from 1900, and the brick was flaking.) I'm wondering if this would work over the poly. But either way I'm bookmarking this to use in our completely brick walled basement!
I adore painted brick and love when the paint comes off some of the red brick but your whitewash technique looks great! I see you are painting the bookcases too that are on each side of the fireplace. That will tie it all together and be smashing. Free range? I think it's really called Free Rein…as in letting a horse have the reins to run fast.
looks great! definitely retreats instead of bam, fireplace!
Wow! I am so inspired….that brick surround in my living room is about to be transformed!
Love this and your blog. I will be following along!
I love the way your fireplace has been transformed! Our fireplace is VERY similar to yours in scale and construction and I've been dreaming of painting our mantel and whitewashing the brick just as you have. I was just wondering what type of paint you used… satin, semi-gloss? And was your paint pure white or a creamy white? All the trim in our family room is pure white but I'm a little fearful that using the pure white on the mantel and brick will be too strong. Also is your baseboard trim the same color as the mantel/brick paint? Thanks for your feedback, I'm so excited to get going on our fireplace!
I’m wondering too-Is the paint flat? satin? semi-gloss?
[…] 14. Whitewash brick hearth […]
Just found your blog and the whitewashed fireplace. Was your bricked sealed when you got it? Mine is. I guess I will just have to try, I too have a hearth ledge and am going to front it with the same flooring I put in. Then whitewash the ledge and the little bit of brick that overhangs. Love your inspiration!
I will be whitewashing my fireplace brick just as you have. Can you tell me what type of paint you used… flat, satin, semi-gloss? I will be using a high gloss on the mantle and I wasn’t sure that would work for the brink. Thanks!
[…] Cleverly Inspired […]
[…] basically used the technique she describes here, and I’ll give more step-by-step details another time We all like it much better! Now the […]