We’re in full on remodel mode at our house and projects are happening everywhere. If you don’t follow along with us on instagram or hadn’t heard, God recently provided a way for us to buy the house we’ve been living in unexpectedly and we are SO thankful! Also so ready to start making it our own! (So you’ll probably be seeing a few more DIY posts around here and I hope you’re excited!) We immediately dug into our list of updates and the house feels full of chaos at all times now so of course it seemed like the perfect time for me to give our brick fireplace a makeover! 😉 Most of our projects require tag-teaming or a little extra muscle from the man of the house so it felt good to accomplish something that was alll me!
And you won’t believe how easy it was!
I was a little hesitant to commit to the change. The natural brick is so pretty.. just take a look at the before! But with our floors and over-all interior color scheme changing, brightening things up seemed the way to go. Plus my Instagram friends helped me out by voting 178 to 19 in favor of it.. so off I went! I got a super encouraging message that you can actually re-stain the brick to bring it back to its natural look (PSA!) so that gave me the push I needed!
Whitewashing is so popular right now, especially white washing brick, so there is a TON of information out there on the best way to do it and the best products you “need”. You’ve probably seen it on Pinterest or in the feeds of other Instagrammers, but there’s one thing you need to know! What you actually need is very simple! I considered purchasing the whitewashing product from Rambio because it was suggested to me so many times! If that interests you, I believe both OurFauxFarmhouse and YoungHouseLove have information saved on the process on their pages!
In the end, I decided to use whatever white paint was in our garage from previous projects and hope for the best! I want my projects to turn out well, but I’m also a fan of working smarter, not harder, when I can. Plus our home budget is pretty spread out right now and I was hit with the inspiration so I didn’t want to wait! I’ve painted the other fireplace in our home previously (sadly there’s no “before” photo to share!) So I knew what I was getting into and how to modify my paint for my desired outcome! And now that I’ve seen the finished product,
I can’t wait to tell you THE EASIEST way to achieve the same look!
Before we begin our easy 1-2-3, you always want to start any makeover by cleaning your product surface! My cute assistant and I vacuumed the fireplace, then I wiped it down with a damp rag. Lastly we taped off the surfaces we wanted to protect from the paint and we were ready to go!
Step 1: Create your paint mixture
The concoction I landed on was about two-thirds paint, one-third water. I started with more water and decided I’d like to thicken it up! The consistency is really up to you! The paint I ended up using was Sherwin Williams “Interior paint & primer in eggshell extra white” from Lowe’s. I poured it into an old Tupperware and in full transparency, I used a spatula to stir because I had no stir sticks! Ha!.. if I can do it, you can!
Step 2: Paint it on
I bought a new $3 paintbrush from Lowe’s and it lasted me the whole project! Using that paintbrush, I painted my mixture onto small areas of the fireplace at a time – maybe one foot by one foot- and moved my way across and down the fireplace.
It will be pretty drippy as you paint and that’s okay! The nice thing about this method is how forgiving it is! Just be sure to wipe the drops of paint in as you go so that your white wash won’t appear uneven once it’s dried.
Step 3: Wipe it
Once you’ve covered your chunk of surface with your paint mix, go back over the surface wiping/rubbing in the excess. You can just use an old rag for this! Personally… I used one of my husband’s old undershirts that had to go! 😉
That’s it! All that’s left to do now is let it dry!
As it does, you’ll probably notice that some areas got more coverage than others. That’s an easy fix! I’d recommend going back over those spots with the residue left on your rag so as not to over do it.
TA-DA! I’m so happy with how it turned out and the way it brightens up the whole space! I only devoted an hour or two at a time here and there and the project was complete in 3 days! If you have a free day and don’t have a toddler to keep away, you could definitely do it in an afternoon!
On last word of advice though… you may want to invest in some rubber gloves 😉
If you’d prefer the step by step process in a video tutorial, I have this processed saved to an Instagram highlight titled “Whitewash DIY.” You can find that in the little bubbles near the top of my Instagram profile.
Come visit me there and feel free to pin this project for later! You can use the button below or simply hover over any specific picture in this article to reveal a “pin it” button in the corner! Whether you get to work on your own whitewashing project now or plan it for later, I hope this is helpful! Please comment below or email me with ANY questions! 🙂
The Guest Room 
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