How to Whitewash your Fireplace for Under $50
AFTER 
BEFORE
Supplies Needed
- 1 qt of paint -We used Behr Premium Plus in White Dove
- Large chip brush
- Water
- 2 1 qt mixing bucket or Handy Paint Pail
Step 1: Clean fireplace
We used warm water mixed with powdered tide @gocleanco style and this drill attachment to get 30 years of dirt off the hearth. It did get a little messy with the particles from the brick coming off during cleaning, just FYI.
Tip#1: Put something down on the floor because this project gets messy!
Step 2: Take off your mantle or tape around it/cover it to make sure it doesn’t get ruined. My mom’s mantle was hollow and only attached by some liquid nails so it was easy to remove.
Step 3: Be Brave and just go for it! We started out with 2 small buckets. One with ” white wash mixture” and one with just water. The “white wash mixture” was 1 part paint to 3 parts water. The more water you add the lighter the wash will be so if you are nervous start with more water! There are a million ways to do this but this is how we achieved what we wanted.
Tip#2: Start out with a light coat. You can always go darker but you can’t go lighter!
We dipped the chip brush into the “white wash mixture” and painted it on the brick any which way. Then we dipped the same brush in the water bucket and went over where we just painted to dilute it a little bit. Be sure to catch any drips because it’s still paint and you don’t want your finish to look “drippy.” We ended up doing 1 light coat and a 2nd heavier coat ( AKA more paint less water.) I don’t think we ended up adding any more water to our first mix it just worked out that way!
Tip#3 Make sure you step back and look at it every now and then.
Step 4: Marvel at your work! I am so happy with how it turned out and so is my mom! If you want to check out the whole makeover check out this video.
