Yes, You Can Paint a Stone Fireplace!

9 Materials
$50
4 Hours
Easy

A few years ago, we bought my husband’s childhood home. We’ve been working our way room by room renovating and Dre modeling our house into a home. We have a 15 foot wide stone fireplace in our living room. The fireplace was dark, gray, and dirty looking.

Even after cleaning the stone with TSP, it still looked dull, worn and dirty. I had mentioned to my husband that I would like to paint the stone. He objected. Then, one day he says, “You know, if you want to paint the stone fireplace, I’d be okay with that.” It took me two seconds to jump on that project.


First, you need to clean the stone. I used TSP and followed the directions on the box. Be sure to also make sure you follow the instructions for drying time. I actually cleaned my stone and then painted it the next day.

I laid down old towels along the floor to absorb any spills. I also spread out plastic painter’s drop cloth. The paint will splatter, so be sure to protect your walls, if applicable, and flooring.

I started with a watered down flat white paint. I used a ratio of approximately 1/2 paint to 1/2 water. I started applying the paint from the top left corner.

The paint will run, so be sure to catch the runs as you paint; otherwise, you could have paint streaks on your stone.

Again, another picture of the fireplace before I started painting. At this point, the fireplace had been cleaned. I also removed the fireplace cover/screen before beginning this project.

I used a wide paint brush to apply the watered down paint. Making sure to paint the grout lines as I painted the stone. After I worked an approximate 3’ wide section from top to bottom, I used an old cut up t-shirt to dab onto the wet paint, removing any extra paint and evening out the coverage.

After all the stones on the fireplace were painted, I applied a second coat of white paint. Then I applied a coat of light gray paint, that was also watered down probably 25% paint to 75% water. I applied the gray paint randomly, making sure to pay attention to the bumps and raised areas, and the grout lines.

That was it. It was much easier than I expected, but it was definitely a little frightening. I mean, what if I ruined the stone fireplace? No pressure!

I was really pleased with the results. You can read more about this project on The Birch Cottage blog. For this project, I used leftover flat white paint, a sample jar of gray paint (I think it was called flannel) and I already had all of the other supplies on hand.

Suggested materials:
  • Scrub brush   (Amazon/Hardware store)
  • Old towels
  • Bucket
See all materials
Pam @ The Birch Cottage
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
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  • Deb Sevcik Deb Sevcik on Nov 06, 2018

    I have a fireplace a lot like yours but, mine has random colored bricks ( red, black, light green ). What would you suggest doing or using to cover up the colors?

  • Christina Dewald Metzger Christina Dewald Metzger on Nov 11, 2018

    I have been wanting to update my brick fireplace as well. However, My Brother, the previous owner, painted the bricks white. And boy do they look painted. How should I prep the brick so I can achieve a look more natural and similar to yours? I Love the way your Fireplace turned out! Also what did you do to your mantel to update it?

  • Roberta Hughes Roberta Hughes on Nov 18, 2018

    I have a rock fireplace diff colors and shapes any idea what I can do with that

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