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DIY Whitewashed Fireplace Makeover
One of my most asked questions is who I hired to transform my fireplace and what is cost. I laugh as I say, I did it and about $20! Our fireplace is the main feature of our home. It is a dual sided, looking through from our dining room to our sitting room in the center of the house. Regardless of the color, I think exposed brick is such a unique and fabulous characteristic to have but our renovations just called for something lighter than red! Keep reading to see how I took this from rustic to farmhouse chic in under $20 and about an hour of my time! [For the outside] Details on the entire makeover are below.I had to do a little prep work because the tv and some other things use to be hung on the brick and there were large holes from the bolts. I used Ready-Mixed Concrete Patch and my finger, to fill in the holes. It dries gray but that didn’t matter for me, since I was painting over it anyway.
I actually whitewashed the one side prior to doing this, using watered down latex paint. See below photo. I didn’t love the result. The brick absorbed the paint and everything was tinted various shades of gray.
Once the concrete patch was dry, I grabbed a can of Rustoleum Chalked, in color Linen White and got to work! I eyed up the areas that I left red, so it would have the German Smear appearance. The most important part of this look is to paint the mortar white as well. The concept behind the German Smear is that it’s suppose to look like plaster is covering the entire surface with some areas having “aged” off. It’s so easy to do, I even let my kids help. It’s really hard to mess it up!
https://video.wixstatic.com/video/782185_35bc65c359db43b1b8fb6800cefdd30d/1080p/mp4/file.mp4
The chalk paint dries almost instantly and anywhere you applied too much, you can wire brush off, revealing more of the underneath. I didn’t seal it and I have yet to see one scratch. I even painted the floor level hearth with it on the dining room and it’s still perfect. Even if it did scratch, the technique lends itself to aging and distressing, so it wouldn’t matter!
My actual technique is to swirl and scumble [dot vigorously] with the brush. I tried to avoid creating linear strokes of any kind and just kept moving the brush. Pay special attention to the areas you’re leaving blank and do extra scumbling there, to soften edges so that they appear distressed. No hard edges! You can obviously paint the mortar with strokes, but then scumble or swirl over the hard lines on the actual brick, if some gets on there.
The inside was completely redone too. It was the natural beige firebrick and had the black marks from the fire on the walls. I removed the logs and cleaned them off [putting them back exactly where they were is so important for the gas distribution and air flow, so take a photo first] Other than wiping down the walls to clear off any debris or cobwebs, I didn’t clean them.
I took high heat resistant paint and redid the interior black. I love the pop of contrast this added to the white and it will also hide all of the soot marks! Then, I laid down new sand [which helps the gas distribute properly] and Rock Wool, for the effect of real embers burning.
Lastly and my favorite finishing touch, I added glass! I used two types, larger black and small bronze. It adds slight dimension and the reflection of the fire flickering is just beautiful. It also adds a touch of glam to the space, since it’s all open and finishes it off with a polished look.
Below is a photo from last Christmas…excited to decorate it this year!
I linked a mixture of Home Depot and Amazon throughout the post, but the Amazon links are all below if you prefer that method!
Amazon Links
As always, thanks for reading! Comment with any questions!
XOXO
Kel
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DIY Kitchen Island Makeover
When we were renovating our home, we were faced with so many decisions that were pretty much permanent, it became rather overwhelming. Our cabinets were an obviously huge decision. We wanted a pop of contrast from the get go but ultimately chickened out and went with all white. While we loved it, we just felt like something has been missing…so we decided it was time to make a change but naturally our budget wasn’t on the same page as us, especially right before the holidays…so I decided to take matters into my own hands.
The Before
I researched the heck out of cabinet paints and finally settled on one that I thought would do the trick. The One seemed to check all the boxes; no sanding, no priming, no sealing. I did buy a sealer but TBD if I end up using it. I haven’t yet.
Steps
The prep is So important! I used my Mrs. Meyers cleaner and a microfiber cloth to thoroughly clean our entire island; trim, cabinets, paneling…everything! Usually it is recommended to use a degreaser, but I use Mrs. Meyers for everything and felt it was fine. Remove all hardware. I did not remove the doors or drawers and was totally fine. I saved so much time not having to realign everything.
Then, just get to work! I bought cheapy paint brushes simply because I didn’t want to look for ours. They worked great so I linked them for you here. This is what the cabinets looked like after the first coat.
I know it looks horrifying, but in my experience, I compare it directly to chalk paint; looks awful after the first coat but the second coat goes on like a dream and solves all the world’s problems. A successful outcome definitely involves consistent brush strokes. Perfectly up and down and perfectly side to side. No careless swipes that result in arches. I tried to recreate the make up of the cabinets and did horizontal strokes for the top and bottom panels and vertical strokes for the sides. I did horizontal for all of the center panels.
Below is the second coat…
The light and the fact that it wasn’t entirely dry makes it look a little imperfect but it looks fantastic. The left side of the middle drawer is the best representation of the final outcome.
Lastly, after the paint is dry, replace the hardware. I bought all new handles, linked here. It was about $15 for 10 and they match what we already have but I got brass to replace the bronze. Full transparency, our amazon basics are MUCH better quality but these are fine. They’re not as heavy duty but still screw in sturdy and match our pendants perfectly.
The After
[Don’t mind the balloons on the ceiling in the background, we are still celebrating Bert’s birthday!] I love how the wood pops against the black. It adds such drama to the kitchen now and is a show stopper when you walk in!
I bought a new runner, which I am obsessed with. It ties in the white, black and natural tones perfectly and I got it on an incredible sale! I linked it here for you. It’s made of jute, leather, sisal and cotton.
Overall, I would highly recommend this paint. It dried so quickly, I did a run through once and went right into my second coat. It dried entirely within the hour to the point where the kids were opening and closing cabinets and drawers without an issue. The paint scraped right off of the floor, where it dripped and came right off of the dishwasher and counter with a rag or magic eraser.
One last look…
Our custom wood features were all DIY and made from clear pine with Special Walnut Stain by Minwax.
I’ve linked what I could, below for you.
Comment if you need links to anything else you see or have questions about anything!
Thanks so much for reading!
XOXO
Kel
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