Susan's Fireplace Makeover

Susan and I both made the decision to whitewash our brick fireplaces.  I know there is controversy about whether that is a good idea or not as it is an irreversible decision!  Not one to take lightly.  I have wanted to whitewash my brick fireplace for years now but never really had the nerve to do it.  Susan recently decided to whitewash her fireplace so we decided to just jump in and whitewash them both!  We decided that if we really didn't like the results, we could replace or cover up the painted brick with stone.




Always make sure you get a good 'before' picture....we got so excited we forgot to take a nice picture before we started painting.  This is Susan's fireplace before whitewashing.

Susan bravely offered her fireplace as the first one that we would paint.  So last night I went to her house after I put the toddler to bed and we got busy.  I was so nervous that my hand was shaking.  She was strong and ready and her confidence in us gave me the boost I needed to jump in.  Her sweet husband Chris got the wine flowing for us...which always helps!  Then he headed down to the basement to watch football.

We turned on HGTV so we could listen while we worked.  Somehow it felt nice to know that someone else was working on projects too.  We taped up the black part of her fireplace, got our paint can, brushes, mixing cup, spotlights, and rags out.  We also had drop cloths and made sure to tape the area where the brick met her carpet really well.  We mixed a ratio of about 1 cup of paint and 1.5 cups of water.  We stirred it up really well and then brushed the mixture onto a 'practice brick'  - just an extra brick she had lying around.  We rubbed it off right away but thought it was too light so we changed our game plan and decided to do several bricks at a time before 'dabbing' the brick with a cloth.  Susan painted the first real brick and then I jumped in.

We had a blast!!!  We were so giddy and laughing hysterically about the fact that we were actually painting brick!  Wondering if we made a huge mistake.   It took a bit of trying out different techniques but eventually we set on brushing paint on 8-10 bricks and then going back to dab at those bricks with our rags until it had a really neat look to it.  We finished the entire fireplace in about an hour.  Maybe a little more - I'm not sure.  It was so fun that I lost track of time.

It turned out way better than we imagined it would...so elegant, inviting, and lovely!  Just the kind of atmosphere she wants in her living room.