Painting Bricks Is Easy!

ByDiana Published Updated

We moved to a new house last year, from California to Missouri. It was a culture shock of course. But the worst part was the dark and gloomy house, full of paneling and bricks. Some people say you should never paint brick…but when two walls in two rooms of your main living space are real bricks, you kind of have NO CHOICE.

PLEASE NOTE: A lot of questions have been answered in the comment section so please be sure to read through if you have a question. If you don’t find what you need,  please contact Sarah via email:  sarah@blogguidebook.com.

Thank you!!

I honestly thought I was going to brush the paint on or roll it on…but then a friend suggested something else. Spray? Luckily I had purchased several gallons of a beautiful cream colored paint (so it wasn’t a stark white), and when my friend was visiting, she said “Let’s paint that brick!” I was a bit nervous what my dear husband would say, since men don’t like painted wood or bricks very much. He is learning quickly that I paint it ALL!
Some awesome things about this method include: no priming, no rolling, quick dry time, easy clean up (if you cover everything), affordable and uses very little paint.

Here’s what you have to do to paint your brick walls:

In an empty gallon milk jug, pour 1/4 paint to 3/4 water. Shake well till mixed thoroughly. Will look like milk!
Then, using a funnel (or not) pour carefully into a spray bottle. I got the spray bottles from Lowes in the cleaning section for about $3, sort of the industrial kind. Some of them work great and some stop working right away, so you may want to buy more than one.
If your brick is clean you can start. If not, make sure it’s dust and cobweb free.
Cover your floors with waterproof tarps. Have lots of paper towels on hand. You can either cover your windows with plastic or just be ready to clean up the paint drips immediately after spraying.

Now you’re ready to start spraying your bricks! There’s a technique to it…swoosh your wrist across the area you are painting at the same time as pulling the trigger on the sprayer. You are trying to get an even coat of thin paint. With this method you will still have some color variations showing through and it won’t be completely “white”. It brightens the brick. You can even do more coats if you want it to be brighter.
But really, you can do the spraying in any way that is easy for you!

Now after you’ve sprayed till your hand aches, you will need to dab at the drippy areas with a wad of paper towels. You don’t want drips drying and looking ugly all over. You can also use a paint brush to squish more of the drips into the crevices and grout lines. You might even start feeling artsy and creative!
You will notice with spraying the paint on that you are saving tons of time not having to paint into the “grout” areas…they get covered nicely with the spray.

We were able to complete one wall in the breakfast room in about 1/2 an hour. Clean up took about another 1/2 an hour (including drips, the floor and the windows). We got done right as my husband walked in the door. He was speechless…but liked it! Yay for painted brick and clever friends!

I totally suggest painting boring red brick if it’s on the interior of your home. It’s quick and easy and you’ll love how bright it is. After I finished the fireplace and painting the paneling I almost feel like it’s light in there!

Make sure to wash out all your brushes and you can keep the unused watered down paint for about a month. After that is starts going funky and chunky.

And here’s a picture of how it looks today!
NOTE:  I used latex paint for this project. Feel free to email me with any questions about this project.
Guest Post from Sarah at The Blog Guidebook

 

Similar Posts

about diana

About Diana

Here at The Girl Creative I mostly share FREE printables and FREE SVG Cut files for Silhouette and Cricut. Every now and then you’ll see a simple craft or delicious recipe. From time to time I will blog about every day life and that includes my family and my relationship with Jesus. Read more…

58 Comments

  1. Used your paint color/formula but brush and sponge cause my sprayers kept clogging. Looks fantastic, and my husband whom hates painted brick as well admits it looks great! Thank u so much for sharing!

  2. Would you say this is very similar to the white-washed look? I’m thinking about doing this to our massive brick fireplace wall (screams “1970s!!!!!!!!!!!”)…this seems much easier for the same look.

  3. I’m totally inspired! I have been trying to figure out how I’m going to tackle the same issue in my new home. Would love to know what color paint you used.

  4. Laura Corwin says:

    This is very lovely. I think it looks even better than plain white walls! I don’t have brick inside, though. I am getting ready to buy a house that is built with ugly red brick. I read Sarah Bradford’s reply and believe that I will try using exterior paint with built in primer. Thanks!

  5. Stephanie Christie says:

    Would also like further info on this project. What color did you use? What size and brand of spray bottles? Did your brick have a shiny coat before you sprayed it?

  6. Hi Everyone, thanks so much for your comments. In regards to paint color and brand, I used either Behr or Valspar in “Cottage Stone”…it was a semi gloss latex finish. I did not prime the brick before painting. My bricks were untouched and were very porous. I have also had experience painting brick on the outside with an exterior latex paint, very successfully.

    If you are trying for a less than bright white effect, I would suggest choosing a cream color paint, or off-white.

    You can use any kind of spray bottle. I happened to pick up the some of the “industrial type” ones I found in the cleaning aisle at Lowes. But I know that any would work. If your sprayer gets clogged it just means you will have to thin your paint with a little more water, and work quickly. I think I bought three bottles, and two of them didn’t work for me, even though they were all the same brand. Spray bottles can be tricky so stock up on a few for the project so you don’t have to run back to the store.

    Don’t forget you can email me directly at sarah@blogguidebook.com or check out my blogs at http://www.blogguidebook.com and http://www.differentdog.com for more DIY/Crafting/Painting fun.

    Good luck on your brick painting adventures!

    1. Stephanie Christie says:

      Thank you so much for the quick response answering all my questions!!!!

  7. Stephanie Christie says:

    Did you use interior or exterior paint for this project? Also, you said it was paint and primer in one correct?

    Thanks!

    1. I used interior paint on this project, and I can’t remember if there was primer in it, I don’t think so. That probably wouldn’t make too much difference though. Good luck!

  8. Shann horn says:

    You stated you used latex paint…dud you use flat, eggshell or satin I ain’t..love this, I’m going to try this on my fireplace. Thanks

Comments are closed.