Whitewashing a Dark Fireplace

Watch the video for a detailed tutorial!

Here is the original look. The stones and the mantel were both dark brown colors. We wanted to lighten the look of the stone but keep the mantel the dark wood so that it stands out more.

The first step of whitewashing is to mix water with paint. We added 1 cup of water to about 2 cups of paint and then stirred it well.

We started by brushing on the whitewash mixture onto a small stone on the lower side of the fireplace. It was a little darker than we wanted so we used a dry rag to remove some of the excess color. The dry rag wasn't working as well as we wanted, so we dipped the rag in water and started removing the excess with the wet rag. The wet rag was working better to get the color we wanted.

After the first stone, we knew we wanted to lighten the color so we added a little more water and stirred it up again. With this more watered-down mixture, I started applying the paint in small sections on the next stone. I would then use the wet rag to remove the excess before I moved on to the next section of the stone. Since the mixture was thinner, the paint was a bit more drippy, so brushing on the paint and then dabbing it off in smaller sections helped prevent too much dripping and prevented the color from drying too fast.

After the second stone, we knew we had a good pattern to get the look we wanted, so we continued painting the rest of the fireplace stones. We wanted to keep the natural gray color of the grout, so we only focused on coloring the stone. We thought the natural gray was a good contrast to the whitewash color.

Here is the final look! We also painted the walls a light, natural gray color and added a pop of color at the top with a dark blue. Overall, we are thrilled with the new look. The whole room feels brighter and a bit more updated.

Before and After.

If you would like tips and tricks on how to paint a brick fireplace then this is the perfect guide!