Transform A Brick Fireplace With A White Wash {Before & After}
by
Myra @ MyBlessedLife.net
(IC: blogger)
I decided to white wash the bricks because I wanted to see some texture and color variations. I was slightly terrified to begin, so I started out with a 2 parts water/1 part paint mixture. You can see how that looked below the mantel. It just made the bricks look dirty. And there was too much pinky-peach coming through. After I did the 2:1 ratio, I went back with a 1:1 ratio and it was much better. I used a little bucket, a cheap paintbrush and a rag. I painted on and wiped the excess off. It is very important to get the paint in the crevices. Doing this makes a big difference. After the second coat was dry, I went back and dry brushed over the bricks with a X brush stroke. This brightened the bricks just a little bit and the X strokes made everything look a bit more random. I'm thrilled with how it turned out! I even made a "tent" out of plastic and spray painted the gas logs insert right in place. The difference is astounding!
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Published September 10th, 2013 2:26 PM
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2 of 14 comments
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Gail Guidance on Aug 09, 2020
Looks great!! You have inspired me to white wash my brick fireplaces!! What a difference!!!!
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I just finished white washing my red brick fireplace too. It looks amazing and I am so happy I did not paint the brick or use the German schmear technique because that is permanent. The lime wash product I used, called Romaino Limewash, can be purchased at Amazon or Home Depot, is somewhat removeable. I thought my brick turned out with too much white covering it so I use a diluted water and muriatic acid solution to remove it where I wanted more red brick to show. It worked like a charm and I could probably have removed ALL the whitewash if I really wanted to. I also did the hearth. I was wondering why you did not do the hearth? It looks unfinished. The part you did looks amazing and I love that you painted the firebox black. The whole wall looks new and bright.
Would this work on a stone fireplace? The stone is white and become darkened over the years.
You did an amazing job. I absolutely love the new look. My fireplace is very similar to yours and I would love to know what type/brand paint you applied. Thank you