What colour to paint our 1970s cream brick fireplace?

3 years ago

We are wanting to paint our outdated 1970s fireplace but not sure what colour to go with. I fear white would be too bold and stark as it is a lot of brick and we have cream touches throughout the living/dining area. Would love some suggestions!

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Comments (11)

tozmo1
3 years ago
I like it as is. What don't you like about it?
suezbell
3 years ago
Would choose a deeper full width mantel that overlaps the side pillars all the way to right and left edge. Then wrap the side pillars in wood the same finish as the new mantel. Then pause and see if having less brick visible has you liking the brick more. If not, then you could paint what brick is below the mantel and the color you choose, even white, should not overpower the room.
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I'm afraid I must disagree with the suggestion that green on the walls will tone down the brick. Actually, the opposite is true...colors that are opposites on the color wheel will bring up the color in both...so green makes orange look twice as orange, and yellow makes purple much stronger. We dealt with the same issue by painting our walls a soft neutral, and then putting a four to one mixture of water and paint in a bucket, washing it onto the brick chimney wall with a big paintbrush, and patting it down with a handful of cotton rag. This method works wonderfully to control the look, and keeps the variety among the different bricks, while tying it all into the room in a much more sophisticated way. It took one morning to do the whole thing, and gave the effect more of stone than brick. I wanted the hearth to relate to the dark floor rather than to the wall, because it keeps the brick wall from intruding visually into the room area...so I painted the inside of the firebox and the whole brick hearth flat black. Then I brushed a second coat of semi-gloss black just over the surfaces of the hearth bricks themselves, which made the whole thing settle into the floor. The grout stayed flat and shadowy, the nooks and crannies likewise, and the effect was much more natural than the dustiness of just flat black, or the fakey plasticky-ness of all semigloss. You could do the same thing with a deep tone of your carpet color. I wish I had a photo to show you. It looked wonderful, if I do say so myself!
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Since your house is better in light colours, I wonder whether a limewash on the brick (not a paint) would work well. Then a lighter coloured siding would look very good too. Limewash doesn't peel and is less expensive to do than painting. Might make the house more comfortable in summer if that side of the house is lighter coloured. https://www.renovationsroofing.com/blog/limewash-brick-exterior https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/644929609112851344/?nic_v1=1ae2HACXJWRZ3F2ueyZryohW%2FkASwE3%2B%2FseAeQNrG1%2BJ8bd7Q3qtnt3S7y0%2FMfki%2B7 https://www.sharperimpressionspainting.com/recent-projects/limewash-brick-exterior-house-painting-before-after-photos
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grapefruit1_ar
3 years ago
I think that the fireplace looks very nice and fits with the room. The art above the fireplace and the floating shelves give it a wimpy look. I would replace the picture with something more colorful and add art instead of floating shelves.
everdebz
3 years ago
Idk so I'll ask, why do you want to alter the look? and has it been cleaned?
cawaps
3 years ago
I think the pure white in the artwork is making the brick look dingy. If you take the picture out of the picture, so to speak, the brick actually looks quite nice with the wall color and furniture. Try changing out the artwork for something more flattering to the brick.

I don't dislike the art, I just don't like it with the brick, and think that changing it out is a much easier solution than painting the brick.
Yayagal
3 years ago
I think this tone of muted soft green would look super against the wall and add more interest. https://www.target.com/p/interior-paint-eggshell-emmie-s-room-gallon-magnolia-home-by-joanna-gaines/-/A-53429067?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&fndsrc=tgtao&DFA=71700000012510727&CPNG=PLA_Storage%2BOrganization%2BShopping&adgroup=SC_Storage%2BOrganization&LID=700000001170770pgs&LNM=PRODUCT_GROUP&network=g&device=c&location=9001966&targetid=aud-812560175683:pla-359796305270&ds_rl=1246978&ds_rl=1247068&ds_rl=1248099&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuJv9gpGQ7QIVCqGzCh2yxAYvEAQYBCABEgKCfPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Michelle
3 years ago
I think a light taupe would look nice. Benjamin Moore upper west side is a nice color
Cristal Beckstrom
Original Author
3 years ago
Thank you for the comments everyone. I don’t dislike it per se. I’m not sure how well it shows in the picture but it does look rather dirty in real life and there were some cracks in it that we had to seal up and the sealant my husband used was white so that is really visible. I do agree that it could be the painting that is causing it to look dingy. I will take it down and see if that makes a difference.
everdebz
3 years ago
I agree that sometimes it seems easier to cover it up... :)

could watch youtube for how to clean it well, or have a pro do it... it might then be real nice.
everdebz
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
cawaps has good point about white in art making brick seem dirty. Possibly at Michael's or diy - make a canvas frame the size of the opening for art piece.

Maybe a nice quality mural, and some are on houzz.
Nancy Walton
3 years ago
If you download your picture into a paint sampling program like Sherwin-Williams has you can "try out" different colors. Apparently, Houzz no longer lets us save the OP's pictures to our own computer so we can play with it and post suggestions back. I think a taupe would look great in there, as long as it was more on the grey side than brown side.

What colour to paint our 1970s cream brick fireplace?

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tozmo1

suezbell

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What colour to paint our 1970s cream brick fireplace?

Comments (11)

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