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Painting brick?
Hi all,
This is my first time on this board. I'm really excited to see all of the great ideas on here!
Here is my question: DH and I just bought our first home. Although it is in great shape, I'm thinking that I may want to brighten up a few rooms. The living room, in particular, is pretty dark (olive color on walls, and a floor-to-ceiling exposed brick fireplace. I am definitely planning to paint the room a light color (light blue, taupe, or warm gray), and I'm very tempted to paint the fireplace white (just the outside brick, leaving the inside as is). Would you consider painting a brick fireplace?
Our other option is waiting a year or so and then hiring a contractor to come in and box off the fireplace with white wood trim. I'm guessing that is undoable down the line, whereas painted brick is permanent...
Thanks!
Diagnosed with "unexplained infertility" 1/11
IUIs #1
Re: Painting brick?
For me it depends on the brick. I'm kind of having the same dilemma myself.
Some brick is just red and uniform, and completely unappealing to me. Then there is brick like my mom has in her house that is really beautiful reclaimed brick from old demolished row homes.
My own house has a brick fireplace. It's ok, not too red or too dark. I kind of want to paint it, but I'm worried that everyone (including myself) is going to be sick of all this white painted brick in a few years.
I'd like to see a picture of yours to give you my opinion, but you should definitely paint the rest of the room first. Wait a little while, then decide.
Sure, go for it. People do it all the time and it often looks way better than it did before.
My Pinterest
The Googlesites Paint Bio
Thinking of doing cosmetic updates to a dated home? These were our costs.
Hi guys,
Here is a pic of our living room (note: this is not our furniture...it is the seller's):
I am picturing a light color on the walls (very light blue, cream, taupe, or gray), a gray sectional, and a light blue rug with a gray pattern. Then I would potentially do something to brighten the fireplace area.
Diagnosed with "unexplained infertility" 1/11
IUIs #1
My Pinterest
The Googlesites Paint Bio
Thinking of doing cosmetic updates to a dated home? These were our costs.
Agreed. I really don't care for the look of painted mortar, for some reason it just looks kinda cheap and cheesy to me. If you do paint, would you consider using brick dye instead of paint?
When we bought our house with our brick fireplace I thought for sure I'd want to paint it. Now that I've lived here a year it's really grown on me. I really like the texture and vibe it adds. I couldn't imagine painting it now, but am trying to work with it.
I agree w pp who said try adding a big mantle first.
Our red brick fireplace was painted red by the previous owners and we painted it white. It looks better, but honestly, I am a little sick of it. I wish it never would have been painted at all. Who paints red brick red anyway??? Ugh.
I'm tired of white trim too though.
My Blog - 86'n It
Diagnosed with "unexplained infertility" 1/11
IUIs #1
We painted ours... the before pic is truly hideous- this was the previous owner's doing, not ours lol.
After:
Although I just realized I had taken this pic before putting the cover back on... We waited three years to do this and I really wish we had done it sooner. It really freshened the room up. Replacing the tile hearth also helped- since the old tile was nasty and falling apart.