This past weekend we set out on a new project around the house. This time it was whitewashing our brick fireplace. I shared some of the pics in my instagram stories (if you don’t follow me on instagram follow me here) and most people said they would love a tutorial. So here it is, my whitewashed brick fireplace update.
When we first looked at our current house, my husband fell in love with the downstairs and was determined to make it his man cave. But I wasn’t too fond of the warm knotty pine and the orangey brick. So we made a compromise – he could keep his knotty pine (I’ll tackle that later) and we would whitewash the fireplace to make it a little brighter and update the space a bit. It was super easy to do and really gives the room a new look.
For more decor inspiration, check out my Etsy shop
Here’s my step by step tutorial:
1.) First start off by wiping off the brick with a cloth to get rid of any dust. We also covered our mantle as we did not want to paint that and wanted to leave it as is.
2.) Mix up your paint in a 50-50 paint, water mixture. We used Sherwin Williams Emerald Satin paint in Extra White. The consistency should be pretty watery.
3.) Using a paint brush, paint each brick. The paint will dry lighter and depending on how much of the original brick you want to show through underneath, you can apply a second coat.
4.) The door surrounding the hearth (I think that’s what it’s called) was the traditional gold. To give it more of a farmhouse look we took the door off and sanded it then painted it with a high heat flat black spray paint.
5.) Let the door dry completely before putting back on.
This was definitely an easy, reasonably priced update. And I love the way it came out!
So are you team whitewash or team original brick?
Check out some of my other DIYs below
DIY Engineer Prints
DIY Beaded Wreath
Modern Farmhouse bathroom update
How to dry your hydrangeas
Enter your email below for more DIY ideas and weekly meal plans in your inbox every Sunday!
Pin for later