have you whitewashed a brick fireplace?

[ggirl]

got the idea from pinterest here

I am v tempted ,thought I'd check if anyone else has done it successfully or not.

Yes! It wasn't brick though it was 20 times more hideous and made up of small rough granite type bricks.
I painted it with a bog standard silk emulsion -gray- and people asked if we had a new fireplace. And it washes up far better than the manky old stuff. Do it!

oh hopeful then , you used full thickness paint then?

I haven't painted a brick fireplace myself, but our old house ad a whitewashed brick fireplace and chimney breast, and it looked fab. Lots of people commented on it.

Yes, tried a tiny bit at first then went for it. It still looks freshly done after 18 months.

pic of our fireplace on my profile

I have sanded the horrid red stain off the mantle and the walls are now a pale duck egg

wondering if I should paint the mantle

Yes paint the mantle too. That fireplace will look lovely as it is a nice shape.

shall I paint it white ?

I like that. But our brick is too horrible for whitewash.

I have been seduced by the fireplace bricks painted with chalkpaint on Pinterest instead.

As far as I am concerned I can't live with it any longer and even if I have to repaint annually to keep it nice looking...it can't possibly look any worse.

DH has given me the go ahead as soon as I can work out which kind of paint in Italy is the same as emulsion in the UK.

CarpeVinum -by chalk paint you mean a type of paint not watered down?
can you link to any of the pins?

Ew, if that's what whitewashing is then yes, paint it. I like painted fireplaces esp when it starts to scuff off a bit but I don't think the "After" pictures in that whitewashing link look much better than before. You can still see it's modern, blocky house bricks.

More like this one or this one?

The second pic is very like yours actually. I think they have dug a bit of the mortaring out to emphasize the rounded, worn shape of the bricks.

both your links are same
<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=www.designlotus.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/fireplaceredo.jpg&imgrefurl=www.designlotus.com/%3Fp%3D346&usg=__PxaEbBEPzy99ehSx6vTvjkv5dnw=&h=693&w=550&sz=78&hl=en&start=18&zoom=1&tbnid=OnCsijXO2Th7DM:&tbnh=139&tbnw=110&ei=nt7FUeCMHsew0AWYw4DoAQ&itbs=1&sa=X&ved=0CE4QrQMwEQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this one is nice

Oh damn.

This one and this one.

Hm, that grey one reminds me of those awful 1970s concrete bricks a bit too much. In fact that might also be the problem I have with whitewashing.

I think I must have been traumatised by a dated self-catering cottage in Wales or something.

hmm think I prefer the whitewashed to the white painted look

Oooh! I have one of those fake brick kit fireplaces. It houses a horrid gas fire that I'd love to replace or get rid of, but I do, in a weird way quite like the fireplace, but hate the colour of the 'bricks'. Do you reckon it could be painted or do I have to pull it out? It's something I've pondered for nearly two decades

suppose if I hate it I can just paint it

top two pins on this board, one painted white, one painted white then gone over in soft dark wax

You make the chalk paint with two parts emulsion and one part...chalk, calcium carbonate ? it comes in powder form. Then mix. Then paint. No moremthan three coats in one day. Leave at least couple of hours to dry between each coat.

Or you can use unsanded grout instead of chalk for a slightly grainier finish.

Well, painting isn't going to cost too much and you can still rip it out afterwards if it doesn't work

solo, do you mean the gas fire? I guess you could paint the brass/metal

Ggirl yours is lovely btw!

Chalk paint has a less "plasticcy" look than normal'paint on it's own. And with wax on top of good coverage you can add "effects".

But I think I'll stick to plain old off white. I am not creative. I fuck up anything fanceypants.

Noooooo...the fake bricks. I hate that they are a very orangey colour. the gas fire has to go!!

carpevinum-love the chalk paint one..hmm decisions

think I'll whitewash then if I don't like will get some of that annie sloan stuff

solo. I have hated my fireplace for over 20 yrs as well!
go for it, I'll post a pic after I've done the whitewashing