Please help...lime or mortar wash for fireplace??
mary44
last year
last modified: last year
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mary44
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FIREPLACE HELP NEEDED - 14.5' outdated FIREPLACE
Comments (8)It isn't terrible, but does look dated. When I bought my house, the fireplace was terrible. I believe old, dated brick SHOULD be painted. You can use latex paint eggshell finish, diluted 50% with water and sponge on. It leaves the brick texture, without an awful high gloss fake look. I don't advocate whitewash because it doesn't look natural at all with most brick tones. Pick any neutral color. Don't use stark white, as that won't go with your furniture or the style of your home. You might consider BM Lancaster Whitewash. Looks really good with brick, and is a warm off-white. I used BM Classic Gray (a very light beigy gray) which was the same as my wall color and minimized the monstrosity. It doesn't take long to use a sponge brush. Very minimal effort. You can leave the arched section as is Often the brick there has soot, and without a ton of elbow grease is difficult to clean. Paint may not stick. But the rest is easy. Do vacuum first! Everyone who sees my fireplace now loves it (none of them are shy about telling the truth). I think your TV would look far better on a bigger media stand, or build shelves to match the alcove size. Semi-customized shelving and cabinets would modernize the look and look less jury-rigged. The mantle and upper wood sections might look a lot better painted to match the fireplace. I left my mantle which looks lilke yours. Once the brick was updated, the mantle actually looked way better. Good luck with your project....See MoreTore out built-ins, what to do with gaps between wall & fireplace
Comments (33)Thanks Ci_lantro for the code info! I looked up our local code and it's only 6 inches from the firebox for mantels and trim and combustible materials within 12 inches can only protrude an 1/8" for every inch away from the firebox. We have appx 22" of space now. Good info to have it we plan on putting the trim around it. We peeked behind to see where the drywall ends. We could take out the first row of brick but there is no drywall after that - and my drywall skills aren't such that I want to get into that mess (or pay someone to do it). Thanks everyone for the ideas. We have plans in the next week with a friend in the fireplace business and a family member familiar with the code so we'll pick their brains with some of these ideas!...See MoreKitchen Eating Area / Fireplace paint? white wash? HELP
Comments (76)Carly, your room reminds me of my own family room. I have a fireplace the same color brick as yours and a vaulted ceiling so the fireplace brick is pretty tall. Right now my walls are painted SW Clary Sage, which looks very similar to your paint color. I'm not a huge valance fan, but since you said yours were custom made and expensive, I'd keep them for now. They're not horrible and bring some warmth to the space. I would get a new rug as I don't think it's helping the space. Actually, I'd probably do without a rug altogether but because I generally don't like rugs under the table. What about putting a smaller one by the chairs? I'd also get different pillows. Pick one of the colors in the valance; I'd probably go with solid red. I think the clock looks a lot better hung as well. I feel like the hearth could use something else. What about a candle arrangement?...See MoreStone Fireplace Mortar White-Wash
Comments (10)Beverly and Moore4, I went back over with a darker, sandy shade to blend in. It definitely toned it down, looks more natural and slightly brighter than the concrete. The reason why I’m not doing a complete white wash or an all- over stain is because my husband wants to keep the stones themselves as they are, so the overfilling was much more doable than completely covering the natural stone. I still may go over them slightly to remove some of the color but bringing the tint down made a huge difference. Thanks!!...See Moremary44
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