Any ideas for reviving a 40-year-old dark brick fireplace?

http://porch.com/advice/paint-brick-fireplace/

You can totally paint your brick to lighten it up. There are so many tutorials on how to white wash, paint or do the German Mortar Smear to brick. Search on Hometalk and Pinterest and you will see many tutorials.

paint white

Sure you can ! Clean it up first with non-sudsy TSP. Be sure to use gloves and eye protection . Rinse well and let it dry . Apply a primer and when that's dry paint with a good interior latex paint .

You can white wash the fireplace. We have done this many times and I can tell you it truly makes a huge difference.

Make sure you clean up any soot that has accumulated on the stone.

We recommended a white wash instead of painting it white. Apply each coat to achieve the color your want. It's MUCH easier to apply than it is to take off.

Definitely paint or white-wash your brick. It makes a huge difference. The easiest way is to just dry brush a bit of thinned light colored paint directly onto the brick. Add as much or as little as you like to get the effect you want.

We had a similar situation as you. We have a few windows, but they are by our covered porch and we are surrounded by trees so we had no light coming in. Plus our living room had dark wood paneling. We whitewashed our fireplace and also painted the paneling, but the fireplace transformation was amazing and I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Here's a link to our living room remodel. You can see better the difference in brightness in the room. http://www.crazydiymom.com/livingroomremodel.html

Good luck!

Personally I like white washed brick fireplaces, brightens up the whole room and even modernizes it.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbqFMK28sVY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMEvNPsCvdU

I have seen fabulous remakes simply by painting the hearth a light color.

I just painted by old stained brick with a paint with primer Behr paint in a warm white along with the bookcases that are on either side. It has made a huge difference. It's much brighter and lighter and has made my small living room look bigger. The only thing I might have done differently is use a sealer first so the thirsty old brick didn't drink up so much paint! White or lime wash is very nice too.

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