WhiteWashed Fireplace Mini Tutorial

If you've been around here lately, you know I recently whitewashed my fireplace and I promised some more details about it so here they are! It took a lot of coaxing for Jim to agree but finally I was able to tone it down with a whitewash. We both love it and I have gotten so many compliments! It really took it from "hurl-worthy" to "kinda queasy but I should be ok if you open a window." Of course, I would have rather slapped white paint on the whole darn thing but poor Jim and my mom would have apoplexy. Ppppaint bbbbrick? Crazy Talk. Next thing you know I'll be painting counter tops. Um, wait for it...

Anyway, here are some before/afters:

Before: OMG. Unedited photo and clearly uncropped. It's like leaving the lady's room with my dress tucked into my tights. But there you go.

After: Unedited but not nearly so embarrassing. OK, the clock leaning against the fireplace is a bit embarrassing but I really don't know where to hang the darn thing. Oh and you want to see more of my September mantel? Well, I just happen to have a link around here somewhere. Hmm, let me, oh yes...HERE.

The process was so easy that I fear this won't be much of a tutorial. It's more like a conversation we could have waiting at the bus stop or running into each other at Starbucks. "Oh so let me tell you about what I did this week! I had this white paint, see...."

Let's keep this short, shall we? How are bullet points?

Paint used was a flat white Rustoleum.
I used 2 parts paint to 5 parts water. Why the weird ratio? Because 1 to 5 was too little paint.
I taped around the trim of the fireplace and taped brown paper to the floor to prevent splatters.
I started at the bottom and worked my way up.
As always when I'm painting, I kept a full container of baby wipes nearby to clean up any drops right away.
Brushes: large foam craft brush for the deep parts and a chip brush for most of it.
I applied two layers in some areas to vary the coloration.
I used baby wipes to wipe off individual bricks for the same reason.
It took me 2 hours.
I used much less of the water/paint mixture than I anticipated and ended up with more than half left. I tried to convince Jim to let me do the brick in the front of my house but he started hyperventilating while shouting, "No! No! No! No!" HA HA HA!

My fireplace rocks the Caz Bah

I would recommend whitewashing to anyone who is afraid of the permanency of painted brick. I call this Painted Brick Lite. Or Maybe Diet Painted Brick.

Cheers!

Jenny

And I will be linking up to some fabulous parties. I hope you visit and participate in them too!