Kitchen and Family Room: Painted Brick Fireplace

We are nearing the end of our kitchen/family room renovations.. phew finally. And the place is really starting to come together wonderfully. You can see more before and after's here

This weeks project was the fireplace, we had planned on white washing our red bricks to make the space brighter. I read about all the techniques and tried a few of them out before beginning. We diluted the paint using 50% white paint and 50% water. I started to apply the mixture with a paint brush while M wiped.. we decided that wasn't working.. we wanted the fireplace to be much whiter.. and the diluted paint was too watery. It was dripping everywhere and I had to go over the same place multiple times to get the brick to to look bright and white rather than murky and dirty. So I went with a dilution of 75% paint and 25% water. The we project also turned into an I project, where it was I painting and no wiping.. M considered the job not for him.. required to much patience and was too tedious for his liking.


I went slow and steady. It was a three day job but well worth it.


I also painted the brown wooden trim of the pantry doors a bright white.


and am considering taking a paint brush to the doors too. Maybe a pale yellow? Still undecided.

Now that the work was all done.. next step was furniture. While we have most of our old furniture.. it's hardly enough to fill the large space.. and some of it is just plain old. But before we start buying it was important to know where we are going to place the tv, how to divide the space, how much seating is needed. The best way to go about it, in my opinion is newspapers!


we lay out newspapers, took measurements, walked around the space.. pretend sat on our pretend furniture and then took to shopping.. the best part :) We bought some and will slowly expand from there.. and keeping an eye our for others.. hope to share more soon.

Have you entered my latest giveaway yet? Enter now to win an eco friendly hat for your baby/toddler.

Get my post directly in you inbox with Bloglovin
I am now also offering ad space. See Sponsors for more information


Comments

  1. the white washed brick wall looks amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Doesn't white just bring such joy to a space?? It feels clean and bright...you can do no wrong! Thanks for sharing...

    ReplyDelete
  3. I really like painted bricks. Our fireplace is made from white cement bricks and they look terrible bare so you really have to paint them, which was no problem in my book. I love how yours looks.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my gosh I LOOOOOVE the fireplace!

    ReplyDelete
  5. How exciting! You definitely have more patience with paint than me. I like the doors as is... they match your beautiful wooden floor, but I'm sure a light color will brighten your room even more! Can't wait to see the finished product.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous12/23/2013

    Awesome! I bet the painted brick makes it look so much lighter and brighter instead of a black hole sucking all the light out. This looks amazing, have fun with the shopping!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I really like the painted brick. It makes the whole wall look brighter :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. the fireplace looks awesome! makes such a huge difference for sure.
    -- jackie @ jade and oak

    ReplyDelete
  9. The fireplace looks great!

    ReplyDelete
  10. love that white fire place.. it makes the space look so much bigger. Hope you are having wonderful holiday.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Totally agreed - looks absolutely gorgeous! Great job!
    Happy Holidays!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Well Done!!!

    Merry Xmas!! http://shareasecretmag.com/

    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  13. I like your house everyday more!!
    I also want to wish you and all your family a very Merry Chistmas!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. You are surely pouring your hearts and souls into this.

    ReplyDelete
  15. The white brick looks fantastic. Well worth the time and effort. Looking at the color of the walls by the pantry, what about a light gray for the doors?

    ReplyDelete
  16. we painted one of our fireplaces white too! it's a crisp look!

    http://spinning-threads.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. Painted bricks look very nice.
    x
    Stella from a A Shiny Place

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I love love love all the comments, every single one brings a smile to my face. Make sure you're not a no-reply blogger so I can write back!

Popular posts from this blog

Kitchen and Family Room: New Flooring

D's Amazing Race Party

Friday Photography