Freshening up a fireplace will change the whole look of a room! Wanting to quickly makeover a room? Try updating the fireplace! I love the look of a painted or whitewashed fireplace. When I started flipping I would always hear not to "mess up" the original rock or brick of an old fireplace and... thank goodness in this case I never seem to listen lol. Below are some examples of fireplaces I have done below and the process and tools it took to get there:
White Washing Real Brick Fireplace
This was most recent and easiest fireplace I have done.. REAL brick takes paint the easiest and most even. I used Valspar Limewash Glaze and a Paintbrush and went to town! This product is foolproof. I did it super light on this one, not to turn it white, but to lighten up the solid brick color. My only advice I would give on this one is, I paint in sections and paint it on the grout
seams first then use my brush to brush over whole face after! I also have a cup of water to dip my paint brush in and paint over the whole thing with water to even out. I prefer a couple lighter coats, dried one layer at a time than a one time paint over! This way, you can choose how light or dark you want it.
White Washing Faux Brick Fireplace
This was my first fireplace I did and where my obsession started! It had a real brick base and fake brick back wall.. I wanted a "cleaner" or "brighter" look on this one to brighten up the room so painted the base (real brick) solid white.. then went through in sections on the back wall (fake brick) painting the lines in between the bricks white and using the same limewash glaze above along with a cup of water and painted over the whole thing trying to even out the color. I would use a new paint brush with solid water to run over the whole thing to water the white down and try to even out the wall. Making circular motions with the water brush in center of the bricks would create a pretty distressed look that I loved. Water water water on this one! Key was to thin everything out each time and do it in layers/stages to avoid going too white.
Painting Rock Fireplace Solid Color
This was the fireplace I had the biggest reservations on.. I mean.. it was a super cool vintage whole wall rocked fireplace that I would essentially be covering up forever...
No pressure. All I knew was this dark basement bedroom NEEDED to be brightened up and updated! I decided to go with the color Shiplap by Magnolia Home for the walls and the fireplace. After buying every neutral shade of Peel and Stick Paint Samples they had of course. Boy was this a MUCH longer process than I thought it would be! Something I had never encountered before was working with real stone~ the natural holes and grooves of the rock and the wide grout areas between the rocks were quite a struggle. I started in sections with a thick layer of paint on the grout and rocks... even thought I was not whitewashing on occasion I would still dip my paint brush in my water bucket to help spread the paint for more coverage. After my first solid coat I realized there were still alot of bare spots in grooves, and hole and started worrying... but DONT WORRY! I took several days on this one letting it dry at night and starting back the next day. When starting back up each time I would try to fill in holes and bare areas first, then spread. Solid paint is soo forgiving so basically just paint away. I was very happy I did!
White Washing Real Stone Fireplace
I was very thankful starting out on this one I just had experience with a similar rock fireplace even though I was going to be using a different technique. I refused to let the grout and rock grooves get the better of me this time and decided to do this in stages over a couple days time... this one definitely took the longest for me. I debated on whether to JUST use the limewash glaze product I showed above or to use paint and spread with the limewash and water but opted just to use the limewash on this one... like I mentioned, it took me forever lol. Of course grout and grooves first and spread, and still did use water aiding in the spread. It took multiple coats but finally got it!
