White Wash Brick Fireplace - Create Make Decorate with Nikki

Hey friends! On today’s blog I want to share with you a very simple diy that has made a huge impact! On the wall of our back patio sits the exterior part of our fireplace. It is rather large and honestly… rather ugly! It is made of red large brick that is not very appealing and really doesn’t match the decor of our patio. Our decor in the backyard is more of a rustic and Mediterranean vibe and this red brick just wasn’t working. So, what was I to do? Well, I decided to grab my paintbrush and some leftover white paint and get to work! That red brick has now turned into a BEAUTIFUL white wash brick fireplace that now fits in perfect with my decorating style. I can’t wait to show you how simple it was to do!

Here is a before photo of the fireplace.

white washing a brick fireplace with paint

This is the before photo and as you can see it’s a pretty good eye soar. To the left of the photo, you can see the stone that we had placed on one of our pillars on the patio. The colors don’t really match at all.

How to paint a white wash brick fireplace

Before I got started, I hosed down the brick and cleaned it up. I had some left over white paint in my shed and I added some water to it until I got a very light and watery consistency. Next, I started applying it over the brick with a large paint brush. My mission here was not to cover the brick up completely, as I wanted to still see some of the red pop through to create a weathered look. You may have to adjust your paint by adding more water if the application looks too thick.

Painting white watered down paint onto a brick fireplace

In this picture you can see where the paint got a little thick in some areas.

To create a little bit more of the weathered look on the brick, I sponged on some brown paint. I would recommend that you have a water bottle on hand if you feel some of the areas look a little too dark. Simply spray the water directly onto the area and wipe if off with a rag.

Decorating a white wash brick fireplace!

The most fun part for me is always the decorating! On one of my thrifting trips, I was lucky enough to find these corbels. They’ve been waiting for just the right project and this was it! They were brownie frownie in color, but nothing a little paint job couldn’t fix. I went over to my wood stash pile and found a scrap piece of wood that was perfect to make a diy mantel.

I had a lot of fun decorating this area and I just love how it turned out! This is one makeover that really made a huge impact in this space. If you have an exterior fireplace that is an eye soar too, I sure hope that it has inspired you to give white washing a try. It’s an easy and inexpensive way to give something a whole new look.

Leave a comment below and let me know what you think!