I have one of those fireplaces from the 1970's with a red brick surround from floor to ceiling, taking up aprox. one-half of the longer wall. Previous owners installed a black cast iron wood stove into the original fireplace opening, and there is a smaller niche next to it for stacking firewood. The hearth is raised up about a foot or so from the floor, and topped with natural grey stone (slate, granite, field stone, I have no idea).

I've been toying with the idea of painting the bricks a light color to make the stove really stand out. The stove and any artwork I display on the brick wall over the stove just kind of recede.

The wall color is a nice, rich terracotta, more caramel than red, but I have no objection to repainting if necessary.

Any ideas? Am I committing a Get It Sold sacrilege by painting over brick? I'm assuming it's not so easy to paint a cast iron stove, and I'd be limited in color choice, I would think.

Thanks in advance.

i think painted brick can look really nice....My house had that fake z-brick garbage from the 70s and i painted it and it looks soooooo much better...so i say go for it!!!

Hi, while I realze the idea I have will be more expensive it will propably look better than painting. What about doing a stone veneer? If you could get a stone that hightlighted (not necessarily match) the stone already there it might make the fireplace a feature rather than a liability. I have to admit I am not keen on painted brick.

I agree with honk.

Fireplaces are an amenity with character and value, not to be painted like walls.

Sometimes I get requests... only show me homes with my criteria and oh, a fireplace.

They expect to see stone or brick -- a focal point.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: real estate lady,

I'm not a fan of painted brick myself. I wish I had a working camera, so that i could upload a photo and show you how that wall of brick just dominates the space in a relatively narrow room.

Stone veneer would look nice, but I'm not sure I'd want to spend what it would probably cost in such a soft market. I don't have a lot of equity in the house and it's doubtful I'd get more than we we paid for it in Feb. 2005.

I may just paint the walls a light neutral that would serve to tone down the red brick. Hallway outside is BM Revere Pewter, a light taupe.

In deciding whether to paint the brick you should take into consideration the overall look of the house as well as surrounding homes. Some brick looks very nice painted (as can be found in many older homes). Just make sure you use the right paint and finish. The appeal to buyers will depend also on what is the norm in each part of the country. For example fireplaces are not the norm for houses in FL and thus you will not find many painted fireplaces there merely because of the low number in homes.

There are also brick stains available. http://www.brickstain.net/gallery.html

http://braxdecorating.com/fireplace_brick_painting_alternative.html

I think it really is a taste specific thing. I do think a huge wall of red brick would be overwhelming, and I think painting would look nice. Putting up stone would be gorgeous (and they have the fake stuff now, which really does look excellent - one of my friends did it). I would do something - and in Designed to Sell - they paint the brick regularly.....

I may be in the minority here, but-
I HATE painted brick anything (inside or out). It might look OK at first, but I have seen some painted brick that looked awful a few years down the road. My choice would be leave it alone.

I wouldn't mind painting the brick but husband won't hear about it. I did go to the links provided in this thread and I am going for the staining of the brick they really look very nice.

I' ve been really keeping an eye on this thread. We have an island FP - floor to ceiling and almost 9 ft wide. It effectively is the wall between the kitchen and LR.

I've toyed w/ painting it but that just feel like it would fit with the interior style of our house. And like rker, DH is less than thrilled w/ the idea.

I've been wanting to buy a test brick and try something Karen McAloon did on her Remix show. She painted a brick FP with that finish that rusts. It still had the brick look - but almost had a coppery rusty finish. It looked amazing on TV and I've been curious about how it looks IRL.

I too am thinking about painting a brick wall fireplace from the 60's in my parent's home to help increase the re-sale value. The brick is old and discolored and my parents haven't updated a thing (including the linoleum, paint color etc.) in the 40 some years they have lived there. Like some of the other posters, my parents are against it. My mom said, "There is no such thing as fashion trends in home furnishings. You have quality pieces and they look great forever." If only they had quality pieces. The result is a hodgepodge of Danish modern versus country clutter and loads of paneling. Painting the fireplace is the least of their worries.

A friend of mine several years ago had her fireplace brick painted along with built in bookcases that were on either side. At first I thought she was crazy but I had to admit when all was said and done it looked classic.
She had it all painted in an off white oil based paint.

My daughter, who wants to study interior design when she starts college in the fall, is dead set against me painting the brick wall fireplace.

We watched an episode of Desperate Spaces today where the hosts painted a stone fireplace white to bring more light into the family room. I was horrified, the light grey stone looked fine. What made it dark was the wood rafters and the fact that there was only one window in the room. The room looked great, but it really wasn't necessary to paint that fireplace. It was floor to ceiling but it was only maybe five-six feet wide, not overwhelming in the large room.

I see I've ignited some strong passions here! I've seen some great painted brick, and if I were going to stay here I might do it, but I'm afraid I'll regret it when it comes time to sell. This house has enough flaws as it is.

I'd never paint over a brick fireplace but do understand your dilemna from a design standpoint. We actually had an ugly gray ceiling to floor fireplace in our den -- we used sheetrock above the mantle to cover the top half of the fireplace and then covered the bottom half with marble tiles and built a new mantle. Total cost was less then $500 and we really like the look, it may be an option for you.
Fireplace refacing

I forgot to add that it's just sheer brick from hearth to ceiling, no mantle at all, and it really could use one.

I had thought of installing floating shelves to display artwork, but I think sheetrocking the top half and installing a mantle at the bottom edge would still allow the casual charm of the brick to show, but wouldn't be so overwhelming, plus there would be a place to display art or photos.

Good idea!

Clearly it's a personal taste thing! Some people would never paint it, some would. Personally I hate brick fireplaces my best friend however has one, floor to ceiling, very wide etc and she'd never hear of painting it. If it were mine (because I'm not a fan of brick fireplaces period) I'd do the suggestion of covering the whole thing with sheet rock then using a mantel and granite or marble around the fireplace opening.

quote:

Originally posted by eliz553:
I may be in the minority here, but-
I HATE painted brick anything (inside or out). It might look OK at first, but I have seen some painted brick that looked awful a few years down the road. My choice would be leave it alone.

I stand with you.

I HATE painted brick. Why turn a nice natural material, that needs very little maintenance, into a high-maintenance?

Plus, just think of the labor involved when someone wants to removal the paint? Just the hundreds of labor hours needed to pick out the paint from every little pore and crack of the brick face!

If I saw painted brick in a house, I would immediately start subtracting tens of thousands of dollars off any offer I would have otherwise considered.

If it were me, I would attach firring strips to the mortar joints in the brick with tapcon screws, and cover the areas I would like to paint with drywall. Tape, prime, paint or texture, tile the new wall surface.

I'd take photos before and during this operation and save them to pass onto the realtor/new owner who eventually sells/buys the home. What is done is easily reversable if the new or future owner chooses?

Hello you all!

Go to the link that someone in this thread has provided and see what staining the brick can do. I was amazed at the results. If you don't want your brick fireplace painted this is definitely an alternative.