She Couldn’t Afford to Replace Her Dark Brick Fireplace, So She Used Leftover Trim Paint
Dark brick stretched from the raised hearth to the ceiling, framed by brown wood trim and crossed by a thick wooden mantel. Tina Marie of It’s a Mom’s World wanted to keep the fireplace that had helped sell her on the house, but renovating it fell outside the budget while other home projects competed for funds.
Leftover white trim paint gave her a way to change the brick without replacing the surround. She diluted the paint with water and worked it into the surface with a brush and rag, aiming for a pale gray finish that would leave some brown showing through.
Whitewashing brought a moment when she thought she had ruined the fireplace, followed by a correction that helped define the finished look. Painting the mantel, changing the brass-colored door frames, and replacing the brown perimeter trim completed the fireplace update.
Dark Brick Filled the Wall Between Two Windows
Red, brown, and charcoal tones covered the tall surround, with a black firebox and brass-framed glass doors beneath the mantel. Narrow windows flanked the brick, but the dark masonry occupied most of the wall between them.
During the house visits, she pictured winter evenings beside the fire after ten years of marriage without a fireplace at home. Keeping that feature mattered to her, even though its finish conflicted with the brighter room she wanted.
Brown Wood Framed the Brick From Hearth to Ceiling
From the side, the projecting hearth and deep mantel show how far the fireplace extends into the room. Brown boards run along the outer edges and across the top, connecting the surround with the wood baseboards and ceiling trim.
She considered an opaque white finish before choosing a wash that would retain traces of the brick’s color. That decision kept the rough faces and variations between individual bricks visible through the new coating.
Leftover Trim Paint Became a Wash for the Brick
Work began with cleaning the brick and masking the adjoining surfaces, while plastic protected the fireplace doors. Her mixture combined one cup of water-based white paint with half a cup of water, using paint left from the trim work.
Working across two or three bricks at a time, she brushed on the mixture and dabbed it with a rag to remove excess paint. Pale areas built up across the brick faces while darker marks remained in the uneven surface, giving her control over how much of the original finish showed.
White Mortar Joints Made Her Reconsider Part of the Finish
Two coats brought the brick toward the gray-toned appearance she wanted, but painting the joints on the hearth produced an effect she disliked. With white extending across both the brick and the spaces between it, that section looked more coated than she had intended.
She went back over those joints with gray paint to restore the separation between bricks. That correction became part of the makeover, preserving darker lines beneath the pale wash instead of covering the entire surround in one continuous color.
White Mantel and Narrow Trim Replaced the Brown Outline
Bright white paint now covers the mantel, while thin white trim edges the fireplace in place of the broad brown boards. Those solid white surfaces frame the washed brick, where muted red and brown traces still show through.
White lanterns, a small clock, flowers, and silver-colored ornaments occupy the shelf beneath a dark sign. Against the lighter masonry, the display has a distinct backdrop without concealing the texture that runs above and below the mantel.
Repainted Door Frames Kept the Black Firebox in Focus
Pale metallic-looking frames replace the brass appearance around the glass doors, while the broad black firebox surround remains visible. The lighter hearth extends that contrast toward the floor, with gray joints tracing the rows across its top and front.
Surrounding changes also contributed to the room’s new appearance: the owner updated the walls, trim, and flooring as part of the wider renovation. The fireplace retained its height, raised hearth, and central position, but its finish now fits those changes.
Would you leave some brick color showing through a whitewash, or keep the original brick and change the mantel and metalwork?
Images and project credit: It’s a Mom’s World.