If you're concerned about the brick having soot on it? Is that why you're doing it? I saw a new way to get soot off brick...with oven cleaner! It worked with an amazing minimum of manual labor.

But otherwise, I think it's great now--I really like the contrast of materials. And remember, painting brick is a you-can-never-go-back deal. Many people have *very* strong feelings about painting brick, especially if it's not in horrible condition.

I vote for whitewashed!

I think a light whitewash would be lovely. Your brick color would still be visible, just not as dark. As it is, the brick looks very much of a color with the floor-- a but that may be the picture. And may I say that your ship lap paneling is outstanding, perfect, and I love it!

You can stain brick instead of painting. Your room is beautiful.

I'm a fan of painted brick, but I like the contrast that your natural brick provides. I vote leave it as is.

Beautiful room! I love it as it is, but if I were considering painting it, I'd try a mock up by taping something light to the brick to try to mimic a lighter look and see how you like it. Something that would allow the brick to show through a bit...maybe waxed or thin tissue paper, or maybe even a water soluble art paint that could easily be washed off. Just to give it that frosted look so you can try it.

I think the room would miss the brick.

I would actually say that black would look better than white or whitewashed... I think it looks fine as is and as mentioned some people hate painted brick.

I whitewashed mine but turned out I actually needed a beigy color bc it was so stark. I loved the look!

Love your home. Its beautiful!

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What a lovely room!

I'd vote for keeping it as is, I think it provides a nice contrast with the white and helps to anchor the darker wood in your furniture.

Another vote for keeping it as is. You already have a lot of white and the contrast of the brick is perfect!

I don't know if this is something you considered, but I think it would be lovely refaced with slate that would pick up the warm tones and greens in the room.

Otherwise, I think whitewashing it would be pretty, but I would use your wall color. That way the mantel piece is still the star.

I vote to leave as is, too. And when trying to enlarge the picture I had the pleasure of seeing the rest of your album. Wow!! I love what you did to the entire house! Your before/afters are incredibly amazing to see how something can go from blah to beautiful. If you'd care to share the wall color, I'm loving the look!

Les has a great idea! I really like your fireplace but it seems to compete and not blend with all you have done. Painting it a nice washed gray would be lovely.

Keep us posted!

I agree that adding more white to that scene will not be helpful. The brick gives a natural warmth to the room. If you think that the color is somewhat "off" for the room (the picture doesn't show enough for me to tell), there is a product that helps you change the color of the bricks. Some people lighten the color, others darken, others change the color outright. Check out their website. What I like about this brick dye company is that they advocate leaving the mortar separate, you still have those natural lines to make it look like a brick structure. I have not used it myself yet, but this is what I would use if I really wanted to change my fireplace.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dyebrick

Thank you all so much for your opinions and great ideas!
My SIL is pushing me to whitewash the brick to make it more like French Country Cottage. I have to admit that I don't really like this particular brick. I think it is a weird color.
les....I would LOVE to reface it, however, we are on a very strict budget now, so I have to make do with things I can accomplish myself.
sujafr...thank you for the lovely compliments. We bought this house and had to paint, replace floors, replace the kitchen and various other jobs, so it has been a real labor of love and hard work to get here. The paint colors are BM Jute on the shiplap wall, and BM Pashmina on the rest of the walls.
nancy.....I am going to look more closely into the Dyebrick website to see if that is something I can accomplish myself.
Thank you everyone for you nice compliments!

Another plea to share your wall color - I love it!

I think the problem with the brick is that it's too orange-pink beside the nice wood floor. That's why I suggested black - still provides contrast but won't look like it clashes with the floor!

Maybe a nice deep gray??

I think white will be great.

I join sujafr in saying a big WOW to your before/afters! Someone cut loose with the Tuscan colors before you got there, hm? : ) It's so much cooler and yet more inviting now. Good work!

I'd get a few bricks and try it first. See if you like the look by stacking them up there.
Renee

Does anyone know how to Photoshop? Maybe if I see it already done, I can make a better decision. Since this picture was taken, the round table nearest the fireplace has been replaced with a longer, white table, and I hung my chocolate brown silk drapes behind the sofa.
kswl....the floors are white oak stained with English Chestnut, so they are not quite as "orange" as they appear in the picture. It does seem like the brick matches the floor, but it is really much more orangey in person.

A vote to wash the brick in a very very pale gray

I played around with lightening the brick, but what happens is that the fireplace opening becomes a big, black hole. The brick that you have provides a better transition from the black hole to the white surround. Painting the brick gray would just make it look dull. You need some color. If you post a bigger picture of the fireplace, I can give you some photoshopped alternatives.

Suero....is this better? Thank you for taking the time to PS this for me.

Thanks so much for sharing your wall colors above!

Since you said that the brick is much more orange than it appears on my screen and that you dislike the color, I'll have to reconsider my vote, since I, too, wouldn't be able to do orangey brick inside. It seems like the suggestions to consider staining it might be worth a try first, and then if you don't like the results, you can whitewash.

Suero will be much better at this, but I was trying to PS while she responded so have a couple to show you anyway for what it's worth.

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Oh boy that helps! I am loving the last one/dark gray!!

sujafr, thank you for that! I am very visual, so this really helps.

Sujafar did just about what I would do. Imagine the second picture even lighter, and you'll get what I was saying about a black hole.

Happy to be of help. I'm kind of liking the darker gray as well. I used transparent black. It's amazing how much the orange comes through with the lighter color. Good luck with your project. You have a great eye for improving things!

Just to throw one more idea out there....
What about painting the brick the same color as my darker wall (in the pic, it is the one to the right) OR should I paint it the same color as the shiplap?
I think I like going lighter rather than darker. We live on the Cape and we are near the water, so my decorating tends to be on the lighter, beachy side. Just curious as to what everyone thinks.

I would live with it a little longer to see if you really want to paint it. Once you do paint it there is no going back. I like the contrast.

I think to blend with your look you should paint it something other than the color of the bricks. They just do not vibe with your look.

I'd recommend dry brushing first to kind of 'ease-into' painting the brick. IMO it will be improved with painting altho with dry brushing you can do a heavier application on the most orangey brick and less on the ones that are darker. You can even use several colors in the grey tones as well as a bit of white to give some variation.

Here is a link that might be useful: lots of info re: dry brushing

I'm not able to simulate dry brushing with my limited PS skills, but here goes the brick colored like the darker wall and then like the slipshap.

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Oohh, I'm really liking the lighter one! Thank you sujafr!
My only hesitation in whitewashing the brick is that it might come out looking pinky-peachy because of the weird color bricks. I'm thinking.....I'm thinking :)

My bricks were a peachy red and I played around with colors until I got the right one that did not read pink.

Sorry as this is my only before.

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Yes..sorry reposting same after pic

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Well, what a laugh I had this morning when I read that I posted slipshap instead of shiplap. Guess it was later than I thought last night. I agree that you may have a challenge blocking out the orange, but I'm impressed that you'll find a way to accomplish something really lovely there.

sujafr....I am so happy to hear you say that because I nearly spit my coffee on the monitor when I read your "slipshap" post. I didn't want to bring it up in case you thought that was the correct terminology!!!!!!
Thanks for the laugh, and for all your help!

It's probably only me but I prefer the look of the brick. Maybe it looks not so good in real life, but I sure like the picture with the natural color brick in it! It's warm, and inviting. Just my two cents.

Thanks everyone, for all the suggestions.
I'm a little slow in completing tasks. I'm usually pretty tired after work, but I will post pics when I decide what I am going to do.
This forum is so great. I really love logging on and seeing people's suggestions!

aktillery, beautiful room, love those pups!

Do you have any bricks laying around you could try it on first? You could then set the bricks on the fireplace to see how you liked it. I would try the dry brush first if adding color.

I'm liking either the brick as is or the darker color. The light color just seems to blend with the mantel and makes the mantel fade away instead of making it stand out. The "black hole" becomes the center of attention. I like aktillery's fireplace, but she has a dark mantel to draw they eye. Just my .02

Thanks Angel! They are pretty cute!

aktillery...it's hard for me to look at the bricks, because I can't get past those adorable pups squinting into the sun!
Your fireplace looks beautiful but I think it's because your mantle is dark. I'm not sure that would look as good with my white mantle. The gray is a thought, and the more I look at the PS pics of my darker wall, I'm kind of liking that too.
Now, I'm really confused.
marylu....I don't have any extra bricks, but that would certainly be the best idea to try and see if I like it.
To all of you that like the brick "as is".....take my word for it, it is MUCH more orangey in person and stands out like a sore thumb! Plus, I don't know if it is because they are "newer" bricks, they just don't have the look of old, worn bricks that I think are beautiful.

I'm not a fan of painted brick. The photo shopping looks nice, but an important thing that it can't emulate is the texture of the painted brick. Something about the mortar and bricks all being painted over one color...it's just bleh, in my opinion. I think your brick color makes a kinda nice transition to the floor, but if you do paint, I'd go darker to minimize the mortar lines. Just my two cents. Love the shiplap!

Glad you got a laugh, declansmom, and that your monitor survived the near coffee outburst! My reaction was similar when I read my own post! It'll be fun to see what you end up doing with your fireplace. We just sold our house last week and were looking for another one elsewhere, so I missed GW for the week. We need to choose wall colors for our new house in the near future, so I'm going to have to sample your BM Jute and Pashmina. Thanks for the inspiration! GW is so great for paint colors.

Akt
illary, where did you purchase the mirror above the fireplace?. It's what I am looking for.

Scanmike,

I think it was TJmaxx. Its been so long its hard to remember. Home Depot and Lowes carry a great variety of mirrors similiar to that one.

I like the brick as it is. adds warmth to the room. I realize this is an old post. Curious as to what you decided.