DIY Tutorial: How to Paint a Brick Fireplace

This DIY tutorial will show you how easy it is to paint a brick fireplace white as well as how to prevent soot stains from bleeding through.

How To Paint a Brick Fireplace

If you’ve been following my Instagram stories lately, you’ll know that my brick fireplace was recently painted white. It was a quick and painless DIY project with such a satisfying end result. There’s really nothing like the power of paint to totally transform a space in practically no time.

The fireplace is so bright, white and clean. Exactly the look I wanted. I chose the paint the inside of the fireplace (the firebox) black. Painting it black helps it recede so that it’s not the focal point of the fireplace.

One unintended result of such a white fireplace is that it completely changed the feeling of the room. This whole wall is now so bright that my white coffee table was simply TOO much white for the space. In fact, I’ve been thinking of replacing the coffee table anyway since the baby is starting to walk. It just had too many corners and made me nervous. So I recently ordered this one online and I’m loving it in the space…except for the fact that the gray work no longer worked. So I also ordered a new rug! And then the rug was a lot busier than the previous one so my throw pillows no longer work. I’m still looking for the perfect replacement for those :-)

Seriously. One quick afternoon project that didn’t cost me a dime ended up costing me a few hundred dollars in other purchases. Oops! In all seriousness, it looks awesome and I’m excited to share it with you once I figure out my throw pillow situation.

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Now on to the tutorial!

DIY: How to Paint a Brick Fireplace White

1. Clean The Fireplace

Make sure your fire place is clean. Mine has never ever been used so it’s spotless. I simply swept it. But if you’ve previously used yours, you’re going to want to use some TSP to scrub down any dirt or soot.

2. Prime The Brick

The most important step is to use a good primer. I highly recommend Sherwin Williams Loxon Concrete & Masonry Primer. It seals imperfections in the brick as well as seals stains so that any soot stains won’t bleed through.

I applied it with a 4 inch nappy roller and used a paint brush for the edges and to really get into any cracks. I primed the firebox first, then painted it and then primed the hearth before painting it. That way I could paint the entire inside of the fireplace without worrying about putting my hand in wet primer on the hearth.

3. Paint the Firebox

Using the roller, paint the inside of the fireplace with black paint. I used a satin finish because that’s what I already had but feel free to use a flat finish. This will more than likely need two coats. Because both the firebox and hearth were the same brick (i.e. same color) I had to create an artificial line where the firebox ended and hearth started. To keep the line neat and straight, I used a small artist’s paintbrush.

4. Paint the Hearth

Once the firebox has been painted, the hearth gets a minimum of two coats of white paint. I chose to use Sherwin Williams’ ProClassic Enamel paint in Extra White. This paint is less likely to peel or chip off, it’s self leveling, doesn’t leave paint strokes and is non-yellowing. I chose the extra white finish so that it would stand out from the white trim surrounding it.

And that is it! Easy right? From start to finish (including drying time), the whole thing took me about 4 hours. Not a bad weekend DIY project if I do say so myself!

If you found this DIY tutorial on How to Paint a Brick Fireplace White helpful, let me know in the comments! And of course, if you have any questions about my method or the products I used, let me know, too!