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Paint Design Dilemma living room

Painting Brick Fireplace - color dilemma

6 years ago

All,

I‘m painting my den right now and need some advice as far as what color I want to paint the brick fireplace. The room was all knotty pine paneling, which I’ve painted Sherwin Williams Charleston white to match the trim in the rest of the house. I plan to paint the space above the paneling Sherwin Williams sea salt, which also ties into the rest of the house. I will also paint the back of the bookshelves sea salt.

Ive primed the brick but am now torn between painting it the same White as the paneling, a creamier white to make it stand out a little, or a different color altogether. I am leaning towards Behr Swiss Cream as pictured, but also am worried it could look like I just made a mistake and got the wrong white. I worry that keeping it the same white as the paneling will be too monochromatic. I would like to keep it some shade of white or Grey.

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generals1992
Original Author

6 years ago

All - here’s the near finished product.

This was really a temporary fix until I tear the walls out and take the house down to the studs, at which point this room will be combined with another to form a “great room.” That said, I actually love the way it turned out - it feels very cozy. I plan to do the remodel in 6-9 months, so I just wanted to paint and cobble together whatever furniture I had to make it look as good as possible until then.

Still need to touch up the baseboards and move some furniture/decor in, but as far as the painting goes, I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.

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Comments (11)

Rawketgrl
6 years ago
Same white as the walls. Cream will look a bit dingy, another color will make it stand out and it does not need to stand out. Put a colorful piece of art on the mantel and it will look wonderful.
generals1992
Original Author
6 years ago
I will go with the same white.

I do plan on eventually getting a natural wood beam put in on the mantle. I am going to mount a tv here and putting a beam on top of the brick will limit the size of the tv that will fit there, so am going to have to figure out an alternative there.
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Hello, We also have a really old brick looking fireplace that looked like this: It really made our room dark and look really old like an old cottage and not in a good way either. So my family and I resorted to painting it white so now it looks something like this: I love it so much more like this now. It just totally brightens up the room. Have you considered painting it white? It might look really nice. But I don't know if you can clarify this for me or not but I've heard that since we painted it now we can't really use it because it might melt the paint and such. Not like we really ever use our fireplace at all so it's not really a concern but you might want to check out the specifics of that if you wanted to paint it.
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You might want to post photos of the room on the Home Decorating forum to get advice on whether to paint and what changes could be made. I'm not opposed to painting brick (I am opposed to painting over wallpaper) but I like your brick. A larger mantel might help. From what little I see, what's missing in your room is lighting, and the right kind of lighting might make the brick more attractive to you.
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We had the hearth removed...I can paint a room, anything more than that I call the pros! It left a place in the floor that needed covering...so you have that to consider. We were redoing the floor anyway - we had 3 different bricks going on in there - the floor was brick, the hearth was a different brick, and the wall was white-painted brick. (2 years on, we still refer to this room as the "brick room." Guests are baffled.) Plaster isn't flammable, so it can run right up to the firebox. To get it up, they firred up the wall, put in chicken wire, then started plastering. There's probably 1.5-2 inches of plaster on there. I'm sure it would chip off if someone wanted to get it off, but if you ever think you want to reverse it, I'd stick to sheetrock. I honestly don't know that it's a DIY - but many are more adventurous than I on that front. Most painting contractors can do this kind of work. Even up close, it looks pretty much like sheetrock. We chose the plaster so that I could go right up to the firebox, and then put the walnut cabinetry over it to emphasize the geometry of the space. Not for everyone, but this is my forever home.
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Nice job! What color is the paint you used?
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rnonwheels
6 years ago
I would not use a high gloss pain for the brick, a flat is more updated!
emmarene9
6 years ago
I've had experience with gloss on bricks and it is a very unnatural look. Flat or matte or whatever SW calls it. I would paint the top of the walls white but like the inside of the shelves to be Sea Salt. Please post a picture when you finish.
enjoythejourney
6 years ago
An alternative to a painting it a single colour is to do a faux finish, to create the look of real brick. Brick comes in lots of colours. You can find directions on the internet or simply buy a kit (Brick-anew). The kit is a bit pricey but, it’s foolproof and looks absolutely amazing. Your brass insert can also be painted, if you like (sand lightly with emery paper and spray with high heat paint).
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
6 years ago
She just covered up real brick so that makes no sense at all. I would just do the same white and add art. I sure hope when you went to all the trouble to paint out that pine you used a primer that is for that wood .
generals1992
Original Author
6 years ago
I did - I sanded and used two coats of Zinsser BIN primer.

I plan to tear out the wall across from the fireplace in a year or so, so not super concerned about bleeding through but I think I should be safe regardless.
generals1992
Original Author
6 years ago
Update - I went with the Charleston white on the fireplace. On to painting the drywall!
bossyvossy
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I like it a lot.
Rawketgrl
6 years ago
Looks super! nice job

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