What to do with a brick fireplace?

One of the reasons my husband and I fell in love with our house was because of the addition in the back with a fireplace.  This was one of the items on our house hunting list that we would not compromise on.  He and I have always grown up with fireplaces, our apartment even had a wood burning fireplace so the house we planned to spend the next 5-10 years of our lives inhad to have one as well (truthfully we will probably be here much longer than that!). 

My dilemma you ask?  Well I love the idea of the fireplace wall as a brick wall, I am just not thrilled with the fact that the previous owner painted it this weird grayish color.  Brick walls can be very hit or miss in my book, you want to avoid the really dated brick wall look and in my case, a brick wall that gives a very cold vibe. 

Anyone out there with experience in this arena please jump in, I am all ears.

So I have been mentally noting all of the brick walls that strike my fancy while I am out and about, and trying to find a way (without completely ruining my wall or taking five years to complete the task) to re-create them in my house.

This is my wall now:




Here are a few brick walls I have fallen for:

The Lucky Brand Store (without the logo of course).  They are a little hard to see but I think you get the idea.  They have more of a washed out look than the last picture you will see.  The jury is still out on this particular color but right now anything seems better than the color on my wall.



This is the front runner so if anyone knows how to make this happen let me know!


Now that you have seen my wall and what I have in mind, what would you do?  Leave the wall as is or hunt for an alternative...if one exists!

See you swoon,

4 comments:

  1. Hi!

    I think you could try to paint the brick back to its natural reddish color for sure.

    Another option is to go bold on the walls and lighten up the fireplace. So, maybe do a deep persimmon color on the walls, keep the trim white and the paint your bricks a nice soft cream. Keep the mantle that natural wood color. That would warm up the space too. And the persimmon would tie into the Anthropologie curtains you are getting in the dining room.

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  2. I don't have any experience with painting brick myself, but I do like when people paint their brick white or cream. I think Shanna's suggestion of a bolder color on the walls may look really nice and warm.
    There is probably a way to strip the paint off of the brick to restore it back to it's original color. Either way, it's a beautiful wall!

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  3. Sand blasters will take paint off of brick. You can rent one for under $100/day. It's not a pretty process, but it is chemical free and very effective!

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  4. Hi all! Thank you for the ideas. I have toyed with the sand blasting idea and if my husband goes away for a couple days I may try that (I hope he is not reading this).

    Paint may be the way to go or a (dare I say it) bold color on the wall. A bit out of my comfort zone but hey it's just paint right?

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