Painting a Brick Fireplace
I’ve always disliked my 60’s brick fireplace surround and intended to paint it. The other day I found a photo of a white horse and fell in love. Had to have it. I brought it home and leaned it on my mantle. It was immediately apparent that the horse needed something more beautiful than my dated brick to call home! So I headed to my basement to see what left over paints I had. I had some whites and greys. I found an extra spongey roller and a paint brush and set to work on painting that dated brick. It took me under 4 hours with a toddler under foot! It was a rush job, but I was pleased with the final result.

A mix of white acrylic paints in an eggshell finish. (The paint you buy in a can at the paint store!). This paint was quite old and gummy which worked well for my textured brick.

Part way through…. After the grout, I roughly painted some of the redder bricks with the brush. I really slopped on the paint for some bits and used less paint and almost dry brushed other bits.

To add more white I used the spongey roller and again literally slopped it on in some parts allowing it to really seep into the grout lines. I smoothed drips with the brush. Finally, I took some grey paint and watered it down, about 50/50, to make a wash. I used my brush and applied it to the areas that already looked a little grey. I did this very sparingly. End result with my lovely horse of course!
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