I say paint it. There is nothing sacred about brick, especially in a bathroom.

Paint it!

Paint it...it will look cleaner and you'll still have the texture showing through the paint.

I hate to be the nay-sayer but I wouldn't paint it. Even in the bathroom I think the exposed brick still adds charm to a 1800s row home/condo.

Cover it over with drywall and eliminate that unsightly and awkward niche.

I agree with hollysprings - cover it - don't paint it. JMO, but painted brick always looks like an accident or an afterthought, and it is difficult to get a good layer of paint that will stick, especially in the damp environment of a bathroom.

Cover it with drywall or leave it, but don't paint it. If you don't like the brick, you should cover it rather than ruining it with white paint. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but I find it sad when a unique architectural detail (especially one repeated elsewhere in the house) is covered with paint. I understand not liking the brick, but perhaps someone in the future might like it. Personally, I would also see if a small linen cabinet or maybe shelving can be put in that narrow niche.

Thanks for your votes, everyone. I hadn't considered drywalling over it, but that could be done. I feel like it might be tough to do it properly so it lines ups with the adjacent drywall. I'll have to take some measurements.

We don't want to eliminate the niche entirely. Storage is always tough in a condo, so we would like to use it. We actually found a tall, narrow bathroom storage unit from CB2 that will fit.

Just for reference, here is some of the other brick that is in the house. You'll notice the bathroom brick is not in the same shape.

I'd keep it - especially if I could reveal MORE of it! I much rather have a bathroom with period detail than a boring drywall box. Just my 2 c's...

I'd skin it with 1/8" plywood on 2 sides, with a piece of corner trim to cover the connection point. Paint to match the rest of the trim. Then you still have your niche to do what you like with.

We have some brick on the outside of our house which was partially painted white by a previous owner. I always thought it would be nice to get several different coordinating colors of paint and fully paint them in a pattern. Each brick a slightly different color so it wouldn't be a wall of one color, but something more natural looking (think natural variations in color in stone). Could you do something like that...turn it into a piece of art using grays and white which coordinate with your marble and subway tile?

Thanks again for your help everyone! We contacted the masonry company that re-pointed the brick in our living/dining areas. It turns out that, since this one column is such a small job, they would charge an hourly rate. And that hourly rate could total several thousand dollars.

So we just painted the sucker. Kind of sad, but it does blend in better with the new vibe of this bathroom.

oh - you've already decided!

My comment was that while I was against painting brick in general - I hate brown and grey or black in a room and think that your chosen tile would have clashed somewhat.

Put I'm a purist when it comes to brownish and blackish tones....although, black and light tan - I like!

It goes with your field tile now that it is painted--looks good.

FWIW, we painted the brick fp wall in our FR. It so would not have worked for us had we left it as is, and it looks so much better painted. In some cases the original brick looks great in a room, or it would just be a real shame to paint it. This was not the case in your bathroom.

Should have just tiled over the brick to tie it in. Hate seeing vintage brick painted. That being said, your bathroom looks sweet either way.

You did the right thing....bath looks great!