~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~
Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
This is a super duper deluxe edition of {pretty, happy, funny, real}. It's not every day that I will reveal something like this!
{pretty}
After years and years of wanting my brick painted, it's done. Isn't it pretty?
{happy}
Let's do some befores and afters so we can really get happy about this transformation, shall we? Because lots of people have said, “Why don't you just paint those bricks?” including some of you. (Some have said “Never paint the bricks!” But I didn't listen.)
BEFORE:
But was it that easy? Just paint them? Nooooooo.
It was complicated, of course. I feel like my life is way more complicated than other people's lives. Not in any sort of serious way, but just in everyday little things like why I can't just paint things, because they first have to be repaired in some arcane fashion known only to masonry experts, which sort of makes me tired and leads me to put the project on the bottom of the list.
Here's the thing.
See how the bricks aren't mortared to anywhere near the edges?
Here's the same spot, after:
See how much mortar was added to make it almost flush with the bricks?
That was a big issue. Because it meant that painting all that brick would take even longer than painting brick usually does (and I've done it, and it takes long because brick is porous), because you would have to get into that mortar and onto the other surfaces — top and bottom — of each brick.
Plus, a few completely un-mortared ones here and there:
BEFORE:
But it really needed to be done. And at last I found someone to do it — the same fellow, a family friend, who painted the closet. A young man who needs work, and poor tired out old us who need work done!
He knew what to do about the mortar and was cheerfully willing to figure out what to do about the painting, because of course, what with things being so complicated and all, I didn't just want it painted. No, I wanted it whitewashed.
DURING:
I wasn't absolutely sure, to tell you the truth. For so long it's been this dark presence in our lives. I wanted it light. But how light? I was afraid.
Even the mortaring made a big difference. It already looks better, right? But not there yet. Very…
Gray.
No, I wanted white. Not a bright, flat white, but a soft whitewash. With some brick still showing through.
Here it is after he played with the lime and a little pigment and washing it on thick and washing it on thin and rubbing it off and brushing it off and wiping it on again —
this is another DURING:
I snapped this with my phone on my way to bed. He had worked late, cleaned up, put things back (including the trim around the microwave cubby), and man — it was so light that even without most of the kitchen lights on, even at night — this is how it looked! I couldn't believe the difference. (Behind this chimney are the back stairs. You can just see Bridget disappearing up! See her? On the right there?)
We were all in shock.
Not everyone liked it.
Just wait, I said, until that built-in thing there, holding the microwave, is painted. Then you'll see.
AFTER:
Will did the honors with the trim. Now I think we can all see how nice the whitewash looks — how bright yet soft it all is. I love it!
The trim isn't new. It's just painted!
The whitewash could easily be re-coated. It might wear off more. I dunno. It's nice like this, I think!
I put the twinkle lights on just to enjoy them (and they could probably use a few more of the tacks that keep them up). I usually deploy them only at Christmas, when my creche is in there, but I was celebrating.
And can we just sigh over how great the tiles look? The tiles that I agonized over looking for when we replaced the wood stove a few years ago and needed to extend the hearth a bit? And Habou just happened to have these fabulous ones in her studio? (She also found the adorable little iron match box that is nailed above the stove, below the blue shelf. Before you couldn't see it very well, with its adorableness. Now you can.)
{funny}
When I came downstairs the first night, I suddenly noticed that the blue rack had not ever really been centered before. Weird.
All these years and at this moment, I realized it was off! (The nails it hangs on were still up on the bricks, so it just got replaced after the whitewashing.) We measured and yes, it was 1/2 an inch to the right all this time.
So I asked to have it moved over. Of course! It was worth taking those nails out, drilling, moving them 1/2 an inch to the left, re-mortaring, re-white-washing — yes! It was worth it!
Here's another before to remind you of the dark bricks (an outtake from when Sukie was here and we were taking “bump” pictures!):
You can see a little glimpse of my creche in the cubby on the left.
{real}
If this project had been done sometime in November, I might have put some actual logs in the wood box for these pictures. We do have actual logs — from our own trees that have been taken down. Right now they are all in the woodshed. We also use these compressed things called enviblocks. They burn very hot and stack very easily in the garage and here. Right now, in February, it's been so cold for so long that this is what we bring in. And we're that worn out from winter that, well, even for this exciting reveal I couldn't brave the woodshed for you! In truth, I'm not sure I could get out to it, due to the eleventy feet of snow in the path.
So not-very-picturesque enviblocks it is for you! (See those scissors in whatever that thing is by the kindling box? I use them to cut the plastic off the wood bricks. Old fashioned, right?)
In some ways, of course I wish this had all been done right away. But you know, it's fine to wait.
I'm very grateful for this brightness!
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Mamabearjd says
The difference is so dramatic! How nice to brighten up the space.
Wanda says
I love it painted! I am a big fan of painted brick. We have an entire wall in our family room that was painted when we bought the house and I just repainted a few weeks ago when we added the bookcase. It is a lot easier to paint after the first coat has been done.
I do envy though that big kitchen. Sigh.
Nancy says
Wow…looks great and lightens up the kitchen!
Rachel~ At the Butterfly Ball says
I just love it! Whitewashed brick (I thought from the first picture it looked like it had been whitewashed, and I wondered how you got that effect…well, with whitewash of course ) is so much more cheerful in a house. Especially in a room where you spend so much time, like a kitchen! And I think that little iron match box is perfectly perfect! It is very pretty, just the sort of thing I’d love to have next to my fireplace too!
Barbara says
You made a great choice! Some brick looks great in its natural state, but we had ugly dark brick on our fireplace and painting it was on of the first things I changed when we moved into our home many years ago. I have never regretted it! And people said it would chip (because we just used regular latex paint) and it never has. Not even with lots of use. And I can scrub the hearth clean. I think you’ll be so glad you did it. And what a find that young man was — send him over!
Becky says
I LOVE it! And, I must try to get my mother to try it at her house.
Diane says
Gorgeous! So cheerful and bright and clean, yet as you say, not *too* bright.
Melissa Diskin says
Love how bright and light it is! (I liked it before, too, but this really does transform your kitchen!)
Alice says
I love the whitewash! Tristan was looking over my shoulder while I read this and said, “oh, that’s a great looking place!” So– seal of approval.
Emily says
AMAZINGLY GORGEOUS! I cannot believe the difference…like something straight out of a country living magazine. Actually, with your rack of pottery and the ornate firebox thingy, it looks like something out of Ukraine…like something from a Jan Brett illustration! Well done, Auntie. Want to come do my house next?!
Tiffany says
Jan Brett, yes! You pegged it. I might even have envibox envy. 🙂
Betsy M says
That looks so cheerful for February – I just love it.
Annie says
Wow! What a lot of work. The blue rack being uncentered is exactly what would have happened around here… and yes, it would have to be moved. Thanks for the reveal!
Cecilia says
Oh, I love it. The plate you have over the oven is just beautiful ! Where did u get it ? IT reminds me of some plates we have from Mexico. God bless you!
Josie says
Oh Cecilia, what a great place to bump into you!!! Auntie Leila, love the brick. I want to do that to the outside of our house which is that yellowy (ugly in my opinion) kind of brick. One day, maybe!
Leila says
Josie, you should do it! My brick just wasn’t pretty, you know?
Josie says
I will take that encouragement! it would look so much better around here! BTW, maybe not the best place to put this, but I spoke to Peter Searby yesterday morning. The man with the vision for educating boys that you all linked to last weekend in bits n pieces through the Esolen article. What a good guy, he offered to chat after I emailed him for more info. Love his vision. He said a lot of folks contacted him that said they found out about him through LMLD! Something that stuck with me, he mentioned Catholic family friendly Cultural Center(s). I love the sound of that-I think we could use one or twelve around here! Praying on it:)…thanks so much for that link!
Leila says
Cecilia, the plate was a gift from a friend. It’s a Godinger plate.
Allison says
When you wrote that, of course, you didn’t want to just paint it (which I heartily agree with to begin with), you wanted to whitewash it, in my head I yelled “YES!!!”. Because it was just the thing. It is beautiful and makes the room so very welcoming and homey!
Beth says
It is soft, bright, and lovely. Can spring be far behind?
Mary Ellen Barrett says
It’s wonderful! I want to come sit in that rocker and drink tea with you. So bright and at the same time cozy.
Jenny says
I’m not generally a fan of painted brick so I was a little skeptical as I scrolled, but yours looks great. That light color really brightens up the kitchen and makes all the wall hangings pop. Courageous! Looking at the before pictures after seeing the after makes you aware of how much light was being sucked into the hearth.
Kathia says
Very beautiful and uplifting!
Claire says
Yay! Wow! I am delighted for you. I am one of those who thought paint was the way to go. Love the whitewash effect! (I have been toying with whitewashing kitchen cabinets; they are oak with a beautiful grain, but dark and outdated. Worth all the trouble, do you think?) What a blessing that your young friend had the skill for this. Really delighted with the result.
Leila says
Claire, I think you should research whitewashing. I would think that it wouldn’t work for cabinets, because it’s dusty and sort of rubs off. But I don’t know for sure.
Rosie says
The microwave cubby especially makes a HUGE difference when it’s painted! Amazing what a little paint and whitewashing can do… We have painted brick in our playroom (it’s an addition on the back of the house) and I sometimes wonder if I want to do anything with it, but it’s painted white and I can’t really imagine WHAT!
Donna L. says
Well! I must say that *I* was one of the naysayers—because I simply love the look of gorgeous old brick…but with that said–Wow! I am pleasantly surprised that it looks this good! Good on you to Just. Get. It. Done!
The whitewash was an inspired decision–I didn’t know such an option was possible…I have seen people paint bright white over brick and it just looks weird and out-of-place to me and I always think “why?”–but this just cleans everything up and bathes the whole area in gorgeous light! Thank you for the inspiration!
Kerri says
Lovely
Leane says
Lovely journeying with you through your “brightening” venture. My husband is a mason….among other things….and so we appreciate brick makeovers. Yours is unique and looks very nice!! Anything that brightens up a room is a wonderful thing! 🙂
Jill Foley says
wow…what a transformation! it’s lovely.
Lisa Rose says
I’m so glad that it turned out just like you wanted! But for myself, I really liked the cozy look of the the unpainted brick before. It would be boring indeed if God had given us all the same taste.
Helene says
So much better! Celebrate indeed! And I really know what you mean about your life being complicated all the time. I always feel like that, too. Of course, it can never be a simple fix, it has to be some horrible desperate fix that takes all kinds of experts and money and angst! You are so funny and lovely.
Laurie says
It looks nice, but once you’ve given the mouse a cookie you need to keep going. The blue/turquoise stuff is too bright now I think.
Aimee Kelly says
This is super fabulous! I want to do the same thing to the exterior of my home. I might be able to convince my hubby by the time we have kids able to be of assistance. So, in about 12-15 years. Love everything about what you’ve done with your hearth!
Jessica says
Beautiful! The perfect way to get ready for spring!
Tamara says
I always love what you do with color. I wish you could come do my house but I don’t think our landlord would appreciate it 😉
kate says
What a nice difference! You have made me shed any hesitancy about painting some of our bricks. though I can definitely relate to your description on how you can’t just simply do a job. Nothing ever seems “the easy way”. You must be so happy with the difference on all these gray winter days.
Ashley says
I love this so very much! Your kitchen has always seemed like such an inviting and homey space, but now I can hardly imagine wanting to spend time in any other room of the house! Great call on the whitewashing. Now if only I could scrounge up a 100+-year-old home with a built-in woodstove here in the San Francisco Bay Area… (Snort. Hardly. Oh, well.)
priest's wife (@byzcathwife) says
the color contrast with the blue shelf is just perfect!
Tamara says
Just chiming in to say that I think so too!
Terri says
Me three. I think the whole thing is perfect! I would have those twinkle lights on all the time I think. They’re just so happy.
Joy in Alabama says
Like!!
Patty says
Just beautiful.
But actually, it DOES seem like you are revealing huge beautiful refinished to your home quite often. 🙂 Is it just that now (most of) the kids are grown and there is now the time, energy, and money to accomplish these things?
So pretty. 🙂
Leila says
Patty, I don’t know. Basically this is painting a wall — not SO huge! I feel like most people would have just redone the kitchen from the get-go. We do it step-by-step and I show you each step 🙂
We have always done things this way — little by little. We bought a big old house and will never be done with the needed upkeep! Just trying to keep you posted 😉
Patty says
To someone who has never even attempted to paint her own walls, it all looks huge and marvelous. 🙂 Maybe I’ll get brave at our new house and finally repaint (spray paint!) some old chairs!
Mary says
I LOVE IT, Auntie Leila!! Absolutely love it!!!
Cristina says
Everything looks so homey and pretty and joyful! I just want to come over and sit by the fire to read a book next to Bridget. I was one of those that found a lot of charm in the old dark rustic-looking bricks but I totally appreciate the fresh air that a new coat (wash) of paint can bring to a room.
I’m also glad to hear that I’m not the only one encountering challenges in every minor home repair/update that we attempt in our house. We were very lucky to find a wonderful handy man with very affordable rates who loves his job as much as we love him and since then, I am a happy camper. Now I can focus on keeping things clean instead of hammering nails on walls. 🙂
Love this post! Amazing pictures as always!
Amy Caroline says
Goodness! What a transformation. I bet it is hard to get used to and so lovely!
Mary says
I love the transformation! So bright and clean and happy.
Lisa G. says
I’m rejoicing with you over the wonderful lightness! Such a good idea.
Jenny Ryan says
Oh my gosh, that is the coolest kitchen I have even seen. Amazing. Great great work!
Amy Z says
I love the whitewash… my husband does not. I showed him the renovation and it sparked an entire conversation. We are usually of one mind and one heart, except when it comes to decorating. I think it brightens the whole room.
I am so excited about your book! I had it on my wish list (because actually placing an Amazon order was taking too much brain power at the moment), but The Hubs bought it for me for Valentine’s Day! He had a tiny printout of the cover and wedged it into the flowers he bought me. 🙂 I am waiting for it ever so impatiently.
Anitra says
It looks lovely… but more than that, I want to let you know that this is very encouraging to me, that some projects seem like they’ll NEVER get done, and yet they do! We have lived in our house for almost 8 years, most of that time with babies or small children underfoot and a limited income… so, lots of things that we’d LIKE to do we just can’t, either because of not having the money or not having the time to do something ourselves (or both – like our major, knocking-down-walls kitchen remodel that we’ve had in mind since we moved in, and have planned out in detail). It is encouraging to know that you can live in a house for 15 or 20 years and say “Now! Now we can do this!”
On a side note, any tips for how to cope with adding children in a small house? I imagine you didn’t always live in that many-roomed farmhouse. We’re soon to go from 2 kids to 3 in a house that really only has 2 bedrooms, although we’re going to have to figure out how to create/re-create a third bedroom within 2 years. Even trying to have a bunk bed plus a crib in the kids’ room is going to leave us with very little room for storage OR playing…
Jenny says
I second this request. We have six people living in a smallish house where the rooms are weirdly cut to not really fit furniture. How did you manage before you had the giant, old house?
Helene says
We have ten kids in a 1568 sq. foot house. But we finished the basement. That really helped. I also make liberal use of toddler beds. They can be shoe-horned into all kinds of tight spaces and can be totally comfortable and cute with all the toddler bedding options out there today (a beautiful throw is the perfect size for a toddler bed, it doesn’t have to be Winnie-the-Pooh). I use bunks wherever possible. In the boys room for a long time I used two sets of bunks on opposing walls and a toddler bed in a small alcove. It worked well for many years until my son outgrew his toddler bed. By this time my older son left for college. So, voila! The toddler bed was replaced by a much needed dresser and the toddler went into the bottom bunk. When my college son returns this summer he will find a new space planned for him in the finished basement. I am setting up a daybed and a dresser down there. It’s like Leila says, try to work with what you have. Always be thinking and always be creative. What works as a great solution one year for one kid may not be the answer for another at another time. Another thing that helped me out was hooks. I have lots of really neat hook racks in all kinds of places. I use them along the end of a bunk bed for pajamas, along the bathroom wall for towels (looks very pottery barn, ha!), in the laundry closet for wet clothing, under the deck rail for bathing suits, in the stairway for coats, etc. well I could advise all day, but I’m sure you have things to do. Remember, “Small homes make tight families!” God bless you guys!
Emily says
Love it! It looks fresh, clean and inviting! What a difference! I grew up in a whitewashed colonial, so I’m particularly fond of that look. Congratulations on being brave and going for it!
Margo, Thrift at Home says
oh WOW. That’s so dramatically better!!! I love how you can keep improving your place and it just gives me hope as an old-house dweller with mortar problems. Yes, our brick (outside) needs some help, too. And painting brick is one of the best ways to protect it.
One of my favorite houses of all time has white paint over red bricks and it’s gently rubbing off here and there for a very painterly, appealing look. I hope your bricks get that way, too. So charming.
Valerie says
You have vision. And your perfectionism (the mortar filling, and thinking it through (aka the complicated)…) has given you a bountifulness of beauty. Well done; you can now enjoy and move onto the next project…thank you for the inspiration! I have been procrastinating and over-thinking (to the point of being completely overwhelmed) my list of projects. There is a point when one needs to stop thinking and start doing…
Again, well done!
Kara says
Well done! I admire your ability to trudge on with it so many years! Our kitchen had dark brick on 2 walls and between that and living in the basement while my husband refinished the upstairs, I felt very defeated. My mother talked me into painting it with her and I’ve loved it ever since! Sometimes a little brightening up can go a long way!
NY Mom says
The whitewash makes everything look so much calmer and peaceful. Love it. Maybe consider a proper mantel to (almost) cover the width of the wall above the woodstove… you can paint it blue with touches of black trim. Or vice-versa. The hanging rack is sweet but now seems dwarfed somehow. Or how about this – a long shelf with a narrow drop-down fabric valance thing that you can change out with the seasons. Might be fun. Congrats on a successful completion to your project!
deb meyers says
Beautiful!
So, I have the same iron thing you store the plastic cutting scissors in. We used it as a pot-belly stove when my daughter played American girls. I unscrewed it from the base of a yard-sale lamp, and the thing never had a flue pipe, the lamp pipe came out of the top …was always going to make a flue… now she is 16 and those days are gone 🙂
Claire Michelle says
Auntie Leila, I am pursuing whitewashing my kitchen cabinets after this wonderful reveal. I don’t want a gray result, I want warmth and brightness with the beautiful wood grain showing. Do you have a warm white you use in your home for walls or trim that you would recommend? I think you like Ben Moore? Thanks so much!!
Leila says
Claire, the white that I have used the most in my house is called Calming Cream — Benjamin Moore. But I have noticed that it looks quite white in my den and more buttery on the third floor (you can search posts to see, and there is a category called “third floor rehab”).
I have used White Dove in the kitchen and (I think) mudroom — the microwave alcove is painted with White Dove. To me it’s very white. It goes with the whitewash, I think.
Do, do test a big swatch of two coats to see how it works with your light.
Kinga says
What a difference! And it looks so bright!
Mary says
Looks great and so much brighter! I’d put a big rustic mantel above the fireplace (instead of the shelves)…
Leila says
I have long wished for a mantel for this fireplace. Maybe someday I will find just the right one!
Sarah E Curran says
I have been eyeing this project for years and I think I’m finally at the point where I will move it up in my priorities. We are in the same boat regarding mortar. Could you tell me, did you have to have all the mortar chipped out and replaced or was he able to fill in the mortar where necessary? Thanks in advance!
Leila says
Oh no, Sarah, no chipping! He just went right over what was there, filling in.