Various parts of your house such as your walls and doors often need to be painted to complete the aesthetics of your home. However, you might be wondering if you need to paint your brick fireplace too.
Should I Paint My Brick Fireplace? You should paint your brick fireplace because it can improve the appearance of your home, making it look modern. If you use a color like white or gray on your brick fireplace, it can make your room look more spacious.
Benjamin Moore, a major paint manufacturer mentions that a painted fireplace can give a brand-new look to a room. Also, while brighter colors can help your room feel bigger, darker colors can have the opposite effect, making your room feel smaller.
What Color Should I Paint My Brick Fireplace?
You should paint your color either white or gray since they will make your room look more spacious. A dark color like black can help hide soot but will make the room seem smaller.
You might have recently moved into a new home or might be considering redecorating your home. Perhaps the most important aspect of aesthetics that you will need to handle is the color of the items in your room. This includes the color of pieces of furniture, walls, and your fireplace too.
When deciding on the color that you want to paint your brick fireplace, your final choice should be determined by why you’re painting the fireplace in the first place. You should also take note of the effect of various color types in a home.
For instance, if you use dark-colored paint for your fireplace, it will be easy to conceal soot that might stain the fireplace. However, dark-colored paints might make your room feel smaller than it is.
On the other hand, painting with bright colors such as white can improve the outlook of your room, enhancing how large it feels. The main disadvantage of bright-colored paint is that it can be stained easily and needs greater effort to clean up and maintain.
If your reason for painting your fireplace is simply aesthetics, you can either go for a color that complements or contrasts the colors of various components in your room before deciding on a paint color to use for your fireplace. The color of your walls, chairs, rugs, tables, doors, windows, and curtains should be taken note of.
The major reason why you should consider the preexisting colors in your room when painting your brick fireplace is that depending on what shade you use, your fireplace can either make or mar the appearance of your room.
While the color of your fireplace is noteworthy, you should also focus on the type of paint that is to be used. The exterior of your brick fireplace can get quite warm and not all types of paints can be used on hot surfaces.
Whether you are getting gloss, semi-gloss, or flat paints, you should target a paint brand that can withstand temperatures up to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, whichever paint you get, you should note that it should not be used for the fireplace’s interior, but only for the exterior.
Does Painting Your Brick Fireplace Reduce Your House’s Value?
Painting your brick fireplace does not reduce your house’s value since it can be washed, depending on the color. If done properly, painting your brick fireplace can even increase your house’s value.
Before making any major change in your home, you might need to consider whether or not it can affect the value of your home. If you make a wrong structural move, it can negatively impact the value of your house, making it worth less than when you got the house.
One such important procedure is applying paint to any part of the house, and in this case, the fireplace. If you are worried about whether painting your brick fireplace can devalue your home, then you can relax, because it doesn’t.
Paint is a powerful tool that can change your home’s appearance in an instant. If you paint your fireplace with the right colors to contrast or complement the rest of your home, it can be a fantastic way to boost how your home looks and its valuation.
The key point to note when considering painting your brick fireplace is that if the paint improves the overall appearance of the room, the value of the house cannot be reduced. To ensure that the painting procedure is carried out properly, here are some steps that you can follow.
- Clear Out Debris
The first step to a perfect paint job for your brick fireplace is removing all debris that might either be on the brick surface or caught between the mortar lines. You can remove debris using a brush with plastic bristles.
After getting rid of debris, you should inspect the mortar between the bricks, ensuring that there are no cracks that can interfere with the quality of the paint job. Finally, you should clear out the debris with a vacuum cleaner that has a brush accessory.
- Wash The Brick
After cleaning the debris, your next step should be washing the brick with a sponge and a mixture of soap and water. This process is necessary to remove soot and other residues that might not have been removed by the brush and can interfere with the paint’s quality.
You should ensure that the soap used is not harsh and is suitable for use on brick surfaces. Finally, rinse off the soap mixture using a sponge and clean water.
- Apply A Primer (click to have it delivered to your home)
When the brick has been cleaned sufficiently, you should apply a primer to the surface. Using a primer before painting is necessary because a primer serves as a base coat, providing a solid foundation for the paint to be applied.
You can purchase a paint package that contains both the paint itself and a primer or buy a primer independently.
- Paint The Fireplace
After preparing the brick with a primer, you can go ahead to paint the fireplace. To ensure that your paint job is flawless, you should first use a paintbrush to paint the mortar lines between the bricks.
Then, you can use a roller to spread paint quickly along the main surface of the bricks, completing the task quickly. When the first layer of paint gets dry, you should add a second layer, as this ensures that the paint is durable and has an even appearance.
You should note that these procedures are necessary if you want to paint your brick fireplace by yourself. Alternatively, you can hire a professional painter to help you carry out the paint job perfectly.
Is It Bad to Paint a Brick Fireplace?
While it is not expressly bad to paint a brick fireplace, painted brick is harder to maintain than regular brick, and it can lead to moisture getting trapped in the brick.
Painting your brick fireplace has a lot of advantages, as it can boost the appearance of your home, prevent the accumulation of soot, and discourage the growth of mold. However, the effects of a painted brick fireplace are not positive, as some disadvantages accompany the practice.
First of all, maintaining a regular brick fireplace is easier than a painted one. Considering its color and texture, unpainted brick does not need a lot of care since its natural look will not highlight dirt. However, when you paint brick, you have to clean it more often to maintain a neat appearance.
Also, in a fireplace, there is a temperature difference between the interior and exterior. This difference in temperature causes an accumulation of steam that is released from the surface of the brick. If the brick surface is painted, moisture will have no path to escape through.
Should I Paint My Fireplace the Same Color as the Walls?
You can paint your fireplace the same color as the walls since it can help the fireplace blend seamlessly into the room. Even if you do not use the same color, using two similar hues can have the same blending effect.
When making any decision about the appearance of a room in your home, you should do a lot of thinking, since aesthetics play a key role in our daily lives. Activities like picking out chairs, tables, curtains, and carpets require a lot of consideration.
However, you might be facing the most important interior decision when trying to decide on a paint color. In this case, if your home’s walls already have a defined color, choosing the shade to use for your brick fireplace might be confusing.
Many interior designers will have tons of advice on how to combine colors within your home to give the best appearance. However, you can avoid choosing an unusual color and instead, stick to the same color for both the walls and fireplace.
If you paint your brick fireplace the same color as your walls, the effect will be that your fireplace will blend perfectly with your walls. This can give your room an even appearance, saving you from the risk of negatively contrasting colors.
Using the same color for both your wall and your brick fireplace can help to take attention away from the fireplace. This can be helpful if there are other notable features in your room that you would rather have the spotlight rather than your fireplace.
Apart from using your wall’s exact color for your fireplace, you can use another similar color. However, if you are insistent on the same color, you can get a shade that is either a bit lighter or darker than that of the wall. This slight difference in the shade can make your look more appealing than when you use identical shades.
As convenient as it is to use identical colors, painting your fireplace with a color that contrasts your walls can also be a smart choice, depending on what your interests are. Contrasting colors will work in the opposite way as identical colors, helping you highlight your fireplace, and making it an important part of your interior decor.
If you are not sure what contrasting color is best for your room, then you can consult a qualified painting technician, ensuring that your final choice is appropriate.
I conducted a study of responses on various DIY forums to find out what others had used as the color when painting their brick fireplaces. Here is what I found out.
| Color used on brick fireplace | Percentage of total responses |
|---|---|
| white | 49% |
| whitewash (click for pricing) | 10% |
| salmon (click for delivery) | 11% |
| off white | 22% |
| robin’s egg blue | 8% |
Best White Paint for a Brick Fireplace?
The best white paint for a brick fireplace is The One Paint and Primer which is manufactured by The Rainbow Liquid Chalk Specialists. It is made for use on several different surfaces, including bricks.
When looking for white-colored paint to use on your brick fireplace, you can always opt for The One Paint and Primer because of its amazing features, some of which are listed below. It is available on Amazon, click here to have it delivered to your front door.
- 2-in-1 design (both paint and primer)
- 12 colors to choose from
- Appealing gloss finish
- Safe and non-toxic
- No harsh odor
- Easy to apply
- Long-lasting
Is Painted Brick A Fad?
Painted brick is not a fad because the practice has been common for a long while and has been proven to have a lot of advantages such as improving the style and appearance of a home.
Over the years we have seen many inventions and practices that gained a lot of traction and popularity within a short period. Eventually, as quickly as they became famous, these innovations lost their impact and went down the drain.
If the notion of painting your brick fireplace is new to you, then you might be wondering if the practice is just one of those exciting developments that are short-lived. However, in this case, you might want to put your fears to rest, as painted brick fireplaces are not a one-hit-wonder.
Painting brick fireplaces is not a recent development, as homeowners have been doing so for so many years. A lot of confidence is placed in painting brick fireplaces because the practice is not superficial but has advantages that last for a long period.
You should not be afraid to paint your brick fireplace because, first, it can make your house look better. For this to happen, you need to choose the right brick color that complements the color of the walls and furniture in the room. Some colors like white and grey can make your room seem larger.
When you consider that painting your brick fireplace can also protect the fireplace’s exterior and mask the presence of soot, then you realize that it is not a bad idea altogether.
