It may have been sandblasted to REMOVE paint.

Oh really! I never thought of that! ... so now I wonder how I can get that effect without painting and then sandblasting! lol Yikes!
Thank you Motherbear :))

You could experiment.....whitewash with thin paint or glaze & use LOTS of rags. Inquire in a GOOD local paint store.

That is exactly what I am going to do! Thank you so much Motherbear:))) I have been asking everyone and you are the First person to give me a Doable , logical answer... I really appreciate the help:)

You are most welcome.

i used a whitewash pickling paint from home depot to redo my fireplace and it looked like this completed

Thank you snobunyz24 ! I am still staring at the Ugly red wall of brick lol ... I will try the pickling paint first then!

Looks Great!

OMG!!!!! Daisy thank you for posting your question. snobunyz24..thank you for responding and showing your pictures.
I've been looking and asking for solutions for how to live with this....many suggestions (paint, whitewash, tile over, etc) hubby did not want to paint but this still looks like brick from your picture and he might actually go for this.
Question...is it just a one step paint or is this a kit that you need to work with?
I have taken down the white mantel right now and will be putting the final coat of primer on so that I can paint it tomorrow evening...going dark espresso/bronze color.
Great job!

LOL! Yes! bamamom! I feel ya! I have been traumatized by my red brick fireplace for 3 yrs now! It takes up an entire wall! 10 ft!! in my kitchen ... I am going to try what snobunyz24 suggested :)

Daisy! I've been with mine for 15 years, 2 months and 3 weeks! But,I'm not keeping tabs! LOL!! Thankfully, my red/orange monster is only 6 1/2" wide and 8' tall. Going to show hubby pic of snobunyz fireplace and information from Home Depot. Hope it will work.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

Snobuny, Thanks for posting Before and After pictures! I, too, don't want to completely paint over my reddish-mix bricks. I would like a little bit of color come through! Thanks!

Snobuny, can you let us know what technique you used for applying the Pickle stain? I purchased today and did a couple of sample bricks, following instructions on can. Seemed to just wipe off and leave like a glaze on the sample bricks. Thanks!

So sorry I missed the notifications for this... I applied with a dry brush, let it sit for twenty seconds and wiped off. I had really odd distressed bricks that were supposedly in style in the mid 80's. Do your bricks have some sort of finish already on them? perhaps something to make them less porous? ?

try to leave it on a bit longer if you would like it to absorb more paint. Other option might be to lightly buff the bricks with an orbital sander prior to application (esp if it may have something on it already)-- my husband hit it up with the sander on a couple bricks because ithey were too white...

bamamom-- My husband sat on the couch with a look of horror on his face for the whole 3 hours it took me to complete the fireplace, then his parents came over to watch too because they were so nervous :) (and then they bought me ice cream, so no complaints :) )

snobunyz24.....Thanks for getting back to us. My husband would probably leave the house. I tried a couple of spots on the side and it just did not seem to take the stain. So, I took the stain back to Home Depot. I don't believe there was anything applied (sealant) to the brick previously, if so; it would have been more than 17 years ago when we bought the house.
We've decided to hold off on doing anything until next spring. I think we are going to drywall above the mantle and then do travertine (subway tile size) over the bottom brick/hearth and put a thin slab of granite/marble/quartz on the top of the hearth.

Yea, on the ice cream! Good job!

o, that sounds great, I would love to see how it turns out

I'll post pics if we actually go that route. Right now it's the plan, but who knows what can happen between now and next spring to change plans.

I Still have not got to this project... hoping to get it done in the New Year... Thank you again for all the input! :))

SAme here Daisy...except our plan now is to tile over the brick...that way in the future it could be removed easier than paint. Good luck with your project! Post pics when your done.

Thanks :) Good Luck to you too bamamom! I will definitely post pictures:)

Thanks.

Would this pickling work on dark grout as well? It's almost black.

I had a pretty dark charcoal grey color it worked very well in the grout but I did not sponge it off like I did w the brick

snobunny- THANK YOU for posting before and after pics and materials used. I have a brick fireplace (one whole wall) in my small bedroom and want to brighten up the room. I did not want to completely cover it with paint for opaque look.

@heha1458 good luck- I love our fireplace now just am considering a natural wood mantle.

That particular wallpaper looks like PA5466RB from York's Modern Rustic collection

Snobuny224: I too have a dark brick FPL with dark grout.mine is round and looks 80 ish. I'm so happy you posted your before and after. Husband is not so happy. I think he'll come around ;-)) thanks again