To paint or not to paint…that was the big question. The brick fireplace in our kitchen has never quite sat right with me. It is a big feature in the room..as in … you really can’t miss it. It is the monster that greets you as you come  through the back ( which is really used as a front) door. Here it is in all its former glory …

You might remember this pic from an earlier post of the fireplace before we moved in

 

I knew I was going to paint it eventually … so I decided in January that the time had come. This is how it looked the morning before the big makeover. (I didn’t attempt to pretty any of these photos up as this was done while the little lady was having her morning nap and it was a race against the zzz’s  🙂 )

 

Oh I should mention that the night before I cleaned the brick with a mix of half white wine vinegar and half water. It did stink but it was a natural stink so I reckoned that was ok!

 

I had half a litre tin of Annie Sloan ‘Old White’ Chalk paint – which was perfect as after much deliberation I decided that I wanted a ‘wash’ effect as opposed to a full-blown white look all over the brick. I mixed the half litre of chalk paint with equal amount of water and got to work. It did run a bit but was easily blended as it was quite watery. It didn’t take long at all ( long enough for a morning nap and a few quick photos)

And this is how it all turned out! I was pleased enough although as you can see I ran out of wash and was unable to get underneath the stove. To be honest it’s not that noticeable in real life 🙂 but I will patch it up with a tester pot.

 

There are a few other patches (below on the right) that could do with another little wash … but again in real life not that noticeable and with a little tester pot should be easy to fix. All in all not bad for two hours work with ingredients all found in the cupboard under my sink!

 

All thoughts, opinions, shock and horror and any other brick painting escapades you may have experienced all welcome in the comments below! I am vowing to post more frequently so hopefully will see you soon … Ciao for now x