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Saturday, December 31, 2011

Painting Brick...

I know...painting brick! Very scary to take that first stroke of the brush, but boy am I glad I did! Our family room was added to the house before we purchased our home. The lower level of the wall is a brick foundation, then the wall is set back a little to form a ledge. A lot for the eye to settle on. I lived with the two tone wall because I was afraid to paint the brick...no more though.

This "before" picture is last year...Christmas 2010. See the two colors...tan walls, beige brick and then tan radiators.



Here's the "after". This picture is this year...Christmas 2011. I didn't take this picture for this painting post, but you can see the difference in the walls behind the tree...much calmer for the eyes. The color flows evenly.


This is a close up of the before.


First step PRIMER. This was the AHHHHH!! moment when there was no turning back.


Roll on the primer with a thicker roller so it gets into all the grooves.


When I painted with the tan paint, I did use a brush for the mortar areas to make sure it covered well.




Here's the after...much better all one color!


Kind of makes that ledge wall disappear a little. Well, not really disappear, but it helps!


If you've been contemplating painting brick...just to let you know...I'm so glad I did it!!

Happy Painting,
~Karen~

23 comments:

  1. You are so brave!! I've contemplated painting our brick fireplace and some funky wainscoting in our family room. But I haven't been as bold as you. After seeing your results...I think I might be getting more so!!

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  2. Good Morning, Karen,
    I really do like how your painted brick turned out. You are brave to start a project like that. Have you ever painted over wall paper?

    Happy New Year to you and your family. I look forward to our continued blog friendship in 2012.

    Take care ~Natalie

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  3. I am so glad you posted this! We have those same hot water baseboard heaters (we love them) and I often wondered if they could be painted. Thank you for the inspiration and encouragement!

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  4. It looks marvelous! Bravo for you to be brave enough to do it.

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  5. It looks awesome! We have decided to tile over our brick fireplace - but are still a bit nervous about that point of no return.

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  6. Looks gorgeous! Love the transformation. :)

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  7. Fabulous change ... glad you were brave enough to try it. Happy new Year.

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  8. What an amazing change. You are so brave and you made an excellent decision.

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  9. I love it when a plan comes together! Painting the brick really made a difference in your room...your tree is very lovely....

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  10. Looks terrific, Karen! Long ago my mom painted over the 1950's paneling and ugly plain brick of her fireplace and it instantly changed the room forever! I want to paint our 1980's "distressed" brick fireplace but so far have not been able to talk DH into it.

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  11. I think it looks fantastic. Good for you to go ahead and just do it!
    Cath :)

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  12. You did a great job...it looks terrific, Karen. Happy New Year!

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  13. Wow, what a difference! I love what a little paint can do! Your JOY branches look great on your wall too and those little branch trees on the table too! So very clever!

    Happy New Year!

    MGM

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  14. It looks so clean and fresh Karen! Good job and what a brave activity...dreaming it and having it come out just right!

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  15. Well, I have to say, that it looks much better than the before pictures.
    Very brave indeed.

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  16. It sure looks much better and I would not have thought it. Thanks for giving us a great idea

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  17. Happy New Year Karen. The paint job looks so nice and I agree it is softer on the eye. Your directions and close up pictures make me braver to try things I would ordinarily be afraid to do. Keep those posts coming. I learn so much from you.

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  18. I think it looks great too! You're right it's much easier on the eyes :)

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  19. when we bought our current house the "family room" turned into my sewing room. There was a large brick wall with a fireplace. We sprayed the brick white without hesitation and then Rich built a fake front to cover the fireplace. It's easily removed after we are gone and the kids have to sell the house..(although one says she will just move here!) I love my white brick..it really brightened up the room..

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  20. We had ugly, dingy industrial looking brick for our fireplace when we moved in. My first big project was to clean as much grime off as I could and paint it. I wanted the focus to be on the fun decor of the room, not the dingy fireplace! My Christmas present from my in-laws and husband is a new mantle and doors to the fireplace. :D Enjoy! It looks great!

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  21. Looks great all in one color. As for the ledge... You could really use that for some of your beautiful consignment finds.

    I'd love to have you come and re-decorate my house & take me shopping, just to learn a few tricks... Whenever I go into the local consignment stores, all I see is junk, not the pretties that you find!

    Beth

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  22. Our family room is turquoise/aqua with white trim. At first I was "shocked" by the turquoise blue, but it has grown on me & for the room where the kids hang out, it's okay. (We have a beachy theme going on). HOWEVER (and it's a BIG however) the one entire wall is nothing but brick ... nasty brick red brick. The mantel is one huge chunk o' wood. I have been wanting to paint over it (white, of course) and now I feel I am ready to take it on. The difference your painting did was major and your brick wall only went up 1/4 of the way. I'm hoping the white will make the room expand. I plan on sanding down the mantel and painting it white, too. I just want it all to blend (okay, go away is really what I'm thinking, but I'll settle for blend). Thanks for a great inspirational post.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment...I just love hearing from you!