Our Brick Wall, PS- we painted it white

We did it. We painted the brick in our kitchen. Our plan the entire time was to paint the brick. That is the reason we put the brick in. We wanted some texture and extra charm. Best part we were able to use the brick that was original to the home. I actually told Kevin I wanted to do brick in the kitchen right when we started the plants for the addition, and little did we know brick would fall into our lap!

When we took out the chimney in our kitchen, (it was used for the furnace) we discovered it was an all brick chimney that was in good shape! As they started to remove the chimney, I realized they were able to remove the brick without damaging it!!! So I asked Kevin and our contractor what they thought of using the brick on a big blank wall in our kitchen?? They laughed at me. And said “are you serious??” Yes. Dead serious.

You can see the brick below, in the right corner…

When you do a brick wall you need to make sure there is proper support in the floor for all that extra weight. Luckily we have an unfinished basement so they could add extra support underneath. I suggest having a professional taking a look before you just start adding brick. You can also get faux brick where it is basically brick cut in half, much lighter.

There are several different ways you can paint your brick. Or leave it if that is your thing. But I really like painted brick. Always have. Now you know, we painted the brick.

This is what they brick looked like after they installed it. It was really pretty brick. It just felt too heavy to me and busy with everything else we had going on. Maybe if the cabinets were white by the fridge I would have liked the brick as is.

First of all love the brick! We decided to install the brick standing up rather than laying it the traditional way so we could do the printed S&R stamp on some of the brick. We LOVE it white. Instantly loved it. 

PS- our floor still need to be sanded down and stained. We are waiting to do that once all the main work has been done. Which we were supposed to leave to the Bahamas over Spring Break and the floor was going to be done then. Now we will have to come up with a plan B. Which we can do. PSS- notice Kevin hung our new lights over the island? (Find our exact lights HERE and a knock-off version HERE).

I really like that you can see the S&R and texture so much better, than before when it was unpainted. S&R is the name of the brick company, dating back to around 1900’s.

We wanted to see the S&R stamped on some of the bricks, so we installed them randomly. And I asked all of you over on Instagram what you thought S&R should stand for in our home? And we received a lot of really good ideas. Our favorite was SERVE & REJOICE!! Made me tear up. Exactly what our family motto is and we just hadn’t put it into words. Serve others everyday and rejoice in blessings and the Lord. What is life without serving and helping others?

We actually have an entire blog post all about painted brick and rock and the best way to paint brick or rock. My personal favorite, and what we did to our brick was Limewash. I like Limewash because of the flat finish and texture if brings. We tried two different colors of Limewash and we went with Bianco White in full-coverage. Avorio is a gorgeous color, it just felt too dark with everything else we have going on in our kitchen. Bianco White is really similar to Pure White from Sherwin Williams, which is the color we use on all our trim and ceiling. 

Types of ways to transform brick or rock-

Always clean brick well before painting (just water works great),  allow 24 hours to dry. Keep in mind that painted interior brick vs exterior painted brick should be treated differently. 

Mineral paint soaks into the brick and it easy to touch up, a flat finish and is best for exterior! It is more like a stain for brick, so you can wash it (pressure wash low).

Limewash is a really old technique- it is crushed and fired limestone. You can wipe it off for a worn look or water it down. You can also do full coverage, depending on your technique. Keep in mind this will start to fade after 5 years. It will penetrate the brick and not flake off.  It also gives the brick a cool texture!! (love this look best for interior). Bonus- no chemicals.

German Schemear is a technique that you wipe off part of the mortar to show more of the brick.

Latex paint I have heard it is not the best for painting brick, it isn’t breathable. But we did use it on our interior fireplace and it has held up great! Highly recommend priming the brick first or getting a paint and primer in one if you go this route. When you paint over a red brick with white paint it can yellow over time, something to keep that in mind. Ours did slightly yellow two years later. We ended up going over the paint with Limewash and it worked really well (see photo below).

It is basically the best backdrop for all our future photo shoots. Need to take pictures of the girls too! Finn is always by my side, so he gets photographed the most:)

We had some extra paint, we only used 1 pint of the Rombio Bianco Limewash and had enough for the two brick areas in our home! This fireplace had started to yellow in some spots, so we just went right over the paint with the Limewash! Check out our DIY fireplace HERE. (PS- that sconce isn’t hardwired, but decided to have our electrician hard wire one on either side of the fireplace! I will share the after soon!)

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