White Washing Brick Fireplaces

One of my favorite features of our new house is the fireplace! It is reminiscent of the fireplace I had as a kid, and that my grandparents had when I was growing up. BUT, it was huge and dark for the room that it was in. So, I set off to figure out what can be done to bricks without covering them completely.  I settled on white washing the brick, and I am so glad I did!

How to Prepare

First we (and by we, I mean my husband) removed the fireplace doors – which by the way- were the old brass style. I took one cup of white paint – any old white paint – and added two cups of water and combined them the best I could. I found a really beat-up old paint brush – you will need to use one you do NOT care about because the bricks will ruin the bristles. Then I gathered a few old rags – clean rags. You will need about 5-10 depending on the size of your brick area. Lastly, you really need drop cloths and to wear old clothes. This is a MESSY process!

How to White Wash

Here’s how it goes -and it goes quickly, so make sure you devote about an hour to this project (at least that it what it took me). Dip your paint brush in the paint/water mix and ‘slop’ it onto the brick. It will be runny and drippy. Rub the paint/water around as much as you can with the paint brush. Adding more of the paint/water mix will cover the brick more, using a quicker stroke will leave less paint. Then take your rags and literally SMOOSH the paint around on the bricks. You will need to work in sections – brush on the paint/water, then smoosh, then paint, then smoosh – you get the point. Continue until all the bricks are covered to your satisfaction. Remember to step back once in a while and look at the coverage so that one area is not more or less covered than another area. Try to keep it even.

It is amazing how quick and easy and budget friendly this project is! The last thing we did was paint the fireplace doors before we put them back. I used a high heat matte black spray paint. I think the final product is perfect for our house. We have enjoyed using our updated fireplace – since it is a real wood burning fireplace!