My fireplace was “classic brick” and although I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it either. So one day I decided to see what other people did with their brick fireplaces and I found two options; cover it with wood paneling, or paint it white. Well, I didn’t like either of those options! Covering it wasn’t possible, and I never understood why white paint was the go-to for a wood fireplace with the smoking and the soot.

After poking around a bit more, I found someone who had done a gray paint and then textured with lighter gray to create some depth and I decided that would go that route.

Plan A: Paint the red bricks with a charcoal gray and then sponge a lighter gray on top of some of the bricks with a dab-twist motion. Put a second layer of lighter gray on other bricks to create a third hue. I used a brand I hadn’t before, ColorPlace, and was not pleased with how watery it was. But, I got a gallon of the charcoal in a flat Paint/Primer and a quart of the lighter gray and got to work.

First I cleaned the bricks with a rag and water and taped around the edges. Then, I generously slathered that runny paint onto the bricks, fully expecting to have to do several coats. However, runny paint aside, this stuff covered the brick! I ended up only having to put on a single coat on the entire thing; which meant that I only used a tiny bit of that gallon…

Once it was semi-dry, I went on to stage two - sponging the lighter gray onto some of the bricks. Following the lead of the other post, I dabbed in the light gray and then did a slight twist. I was not noticing a huge difference in colors when I did this application (which might be because the lighter gray was barely different from the charcoal…my fault, I suppose!). So now, on to Plan B!

Plan B had me covering the entire brick with the gray by sponging it on. I did a handful of bricks this way and then let them dry before choosing another couple of of bricks to add a second layer of the lighter gray. It was barely noticeable.

Okay, Plan C. I added some beige acrylic paint to the light gray and mixed the colors and then painted on this lighter gray. I stopped the sponge-twist movement and just brushed it on directly with a small brush. I didn’t try to get into the holes of the bricks - I wanted to let those darker holes come up. Success! I finally had different colors of gray! But, now the light-light gray was TOO light…on to Plan D. Which was only just dry-brushing on the grays over the too-light bricks to darken them up just a bit.

Finally I had some texture on the fireplace bricks. After removing the tape, I discovered that I would have to touch up the paint on the wall since the runny gray bled through the tape as well as splattering on the wall as I brushed it on the bricks. As a final step I sprayed some high-heat black spray paint I had left over from an earlier project into a cup and brushed the paint onto the black of the fireplace front to cover up the chipped paint from before. Now, it looks as good as new!!

I’m loving the gray colors and the fresh coat of paint on the black fireplace. For an afternoon’s worth of work, this was probably the quickest project with the biggest statement!

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