Painted Brick ...

More on the Painted brick subject.  You know I have gone to the look hook, line and sinker.  It took me five years to paint the brick in my last house.  After being so pleased with the results ... and after looking at photos of my fireplace before it was painted (ick.) It took me all of five minutes to start painting the brick in our new house.

Here's a little DIY that I DID do myself and it is SUPER easy, you know it is if I tackled it!!

My "New" Painted Brick Wall:

My friends at C&T Paint Store.  Seriously, my friends ... I have been going there for years and I don't know what I would do without them!  They recommended this:

Latex X-Tender.  Yes, you can just add water to your paint, but that tends to cause the paint to loose the pigment.  Did you read about the floor situation?  Same thing.  I am not into diluting my colors.  

The Latex X-tender keeps the color pigment.  They also recommend to add a cap full to your gallon of paint if you are painting trim.  Hides the Brush Marks.  Thank you very much.

You need VERY LITTLE PAINT.  I bought a gallon. Complete overkill.

In a cup I mixed about 1/4 cup paint to 3/4 cups of the X-tender.  Watery and drippy, beware!

One coat gives this sheer look, It feels very ethereal to me ... I loved it.

But I did want a little more color so I added a Second Coat ... same mixture.

A little more color. Still soft and sheer.

I couldn't help myself ... I went for a third coat ... and finally was happy to STOP!

A little more color, not much brick color showing at all, but still obvious.  Understand?

And I didn't change the 1/4 paint to 3/4 X-tender ratio ... just added another coat.

If you do this, definitely play around with the mixture and keep stirring ... as you get to the bottom of your cup you will find the paint heavier if you don't.

Here's where it all started ... Big, Heavy, Brick in your face!

We are playing around with the little fireplace to see if it might become our bar or wine rack.  Not decided yet.  Don't focus on that ... it looks like a black hole.

 Look at the brick!

And NOW I love the brick in my face:

Also painted the brick fireplace in the basement where the kids will hang out.  

Gloss Black.  

Will share next week!

Making the World More Beautiful.  One Room at a Time.

xo,

kim