Our Fireplace Goes Black

For MONTHS I have had the urge to paint our fireplace and built-ins black after being inspired by so many images on Pinterest. But (obviously) black is such a bold dark color and I was EXTREMELY intimidated to take the leap.

I was worried I'd end up hating it and have to take the time to paint it again AND I was worried it would make our narrow living space seem closed in. 2 very logical concerns that ended up being completely wrong!

When Tim and I stepped back and admired the wall we were both shocked to realize the room actually feels wider! When we made over our Basement in the spring, I chose a bold color and painted everything the same tone to give the illusion of a larger space - the same thing happened here! Instead of closing us in, it feels more open and super cozy!

I've gotten a lot of questions on how to paint brick so I thought I'd walk you through how I did it. Plus, check out what our fireplace looked like when we moved in!

How To Paint Brick

There are paints made especially for brick, but I honestly used our regular latex indoor paint! I think a flat finish looks the best. I didn't prime the brick or treat it with anything before beginning to paint. Some say their brick deteriorated after using house paint, but after 5 years, we've never had issue with the brick crumbling.

The first color I ever used matched our trim at the time (Swiss Coffee) and I barely noticed any brick bleed through until about a year after we painted. By bleed through I mean I could start to see like rusty color coming through the brick, but it wasn't super noticeable. Once I painted my second coat (Sherwin Williams Alabaster) we never had bleed through again.

While I did use a roller for some of the coverage, a large durable paint brush is going to be your best friend to get into all those grooves. I also made sure I had a tiny detail brush to get into pin holes that I struggled to cover.

Painting brick definitely takes time so you just need a strong arm and patience, but there's nothing difficult about it!

This black color is Tricorn Black from Sherwin Williams. It is a completely neutral true black that doesn't pull blue or green. I used Behr Marquee Matte Paint like I do with most of my projects.

What do you think? Would you take the risk and paint something black in your home? I cannot wait to fully style this room for Christmas so stay tuned for lots more inspiration!

xoxo, L

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