“Oh what a feeeeeeling, painting on the ceeeeeiling.” Why yes that was a Lionel Richie reference. You’re welcome.
It was time to get some paint up in this heezy. And by heezy, I mean sunroom… hence the furniture being all piled in the center.
But before we get to painting, let’s talk about the half-brick wall in this room – since you guys offered up lots of thoughts and suggestions in the last sunroom post. Some had suggested covering the drywalled portion in brick veneer or reclaimed wood.
Unfortunately the dry wall sits in front of the brick, so there’d be this weird lip between the real brick and the veneer/wood (so we’d prefer not to add anything up top to make it stick out further like an awkward above-the-window overbite). We’re actually leaning towards either trying to distress/fade the brick or straight up painting it (like the same brick that was already painted by the previous owners in our living room, especially since it already has some splatters on it from the previous paint job).
See how the last owners of this house had already painted the wall of brick in the living room (on the other side of the sunroom doors)? Since they’re both in the same sight line, we think painting that small u-shaped expanse of it in the sunroom may be the most cohesive solution – so the sunroom feels more connected to the rest of the house.
But before doing anything rash, we wanted to give the brick the benefit of the doubt – so we decided not to take any action on it yet. First we wanted to paint the rest of the old yellowy-cream colored walls in the room to see if that influenced our decision about the brick at all.
So we readied the rest of the room by moving out almost everything, which turned our living room into a temporary disaster zone. This shot below is for all of you who love the chaos of DIY. Oh yeah, it spreads to at least a few other rooms when you’re painting one…
Burger didn’t seem the mind the temporary influx of extra pillows to curl up on. This is his “excuse me dude with the camera, someone’s trying to nap here” face.
And thankfully Clara was on a play-date with my parents, so we could dive in and do as much as we could without worrying about her getting into paint or tripping over the massive pile o’ chaos on the living room while we painted.
But back to the sunroom. Painting is one of those projects we can practically do in our sleep by now… except for when it involves 12 foot ceilings. That was a new challenge for us. But we couldn’t live with those white ceilings and those yellowed old cream walls anymore (yes, they were two different colors) so we dove right in.
How? We just busted out our ladder and go to work.
Oh yeah, forgot to tell you the paint color. We went with our current favorite: Rockport Gray by Benjamin Moore (which is also in our bedroom, and is actually more of a warm brownish-gray than a cold cement gray). I’ll explain why we made that choice when we get to the after pictures, so just hang on for the time being. I realize it’s not much to look at when all you see so far is the edged corners…
Edging actually took a long time – even with us both doing it – since this room is basically all corners and windows. And if I do say so myself, I’m not half bad at it. Yep, there may be a new edging sheriff in town. Take that Deputy $herdog. Ok, I take that back. Sherry can pretty much lap me when it comes to edging. So she did all of the edging around all of the doors and windows except for the few windows up near the ceiling, which I tackled on the ladder.
Once all of the edging was done, Sherry did a second coat around all the doors and windows while I took to the pole. Wait, that sounded bad. I’ve actually never painted with a roller that’s attached to a pole before. Even when doing other ceilings (8ft ones, that is) I usually just stand on a stool. And I gotta say I was impressed with how relatively easy it was. Granted it did get tiring to hold your arms and neck up like that for so long, but it wasn’t terrible.
But the rod extending pole couldn’t help us get the area where the fan attached to the ceiling (where we needed to be more exact than a roller ever could be). And my ladder couldn’t get me high enough to edge that area by hand either. So that’s when Sherry and I whipped up this contraption. Yup, it’s a brush taped to a pole. We’re true professionals around here.
If you weren’t convinced of my edging prowess before, just check out this magic going on. That’s what we call painting with surgical precision. Although I realized I should’ve taken a detailed after shot of how awesome this actually turned out. Seriously, it worked like a charm, guys.
It took us two coats and a total of about seven hours across two days, so it certainly wasn’t our fastest paint job in the world – but we’re really happy with the results.
Trust us: despite the warm gray color, this room is far from gloomy. Light floods in (which is one of the reasons we knew we wouldn’t regret going with a darker tone in there) and even the tiled floors feel less yellow now that the walls aren’t the same creamy-bisque tone. Although we’re the first to admit that the room still has a looong way to go until it’s a functional, finished room (remember how the middle makes no sense?).
And if you’re wondering about the two blue stools having a hushed conversation in the corner together (stool meeting is now in session!), we’re just experimenting with some layout ideas. The stools are helping us picture maybe tucking a small cafe table in that corner, but we’re not married to anything yet. We’ll keep you posted!
Oh, and I promised I’d explain the rationale behind Rockport Gray a bit more so here we go:
- It really makes all the white trim in the room stand out, so it feels crisp in a way that the old yellowed cream walls didn’t (this paint choice did the same trim-crisping thing in our bedroom, which we loved about the color)
- The room has a pretty crazy ceiling (it slopes away from the house and up, like a rocket ship) so we thought a moodier and darker color might downplay the strange angles and make it all blend together more than it did with the previous white ceiling and creamy-yellow walls
- As we mentioned a few photos up, the tile floor feels a lot less monochromatic and yellowed since the walls are no longer the same exact tone (it felt like a beige box with an oddly shaped white top before)
- We also thought it’d tie in well with the living room’s Moonshine walls as well as the grellow walls of the kitchen (both of which you see from the sunroom – so whatever we chose had to go with both)
- In the spring, summer, and fall (aka, any other season than the bleak and bare one that we’re currently in) we want the greenery outside to be the star, so we thought picking a moody not-crazy-or-compete-y color would keep from overshadowing it
- The brownish-gray helps us camouflage that similarly colored heating/cooling unit a bit
We also thought the new wall color picked up the tone of the mortar too, just in case we decided to keep the brick as is.
And now that the room is painted, here’s where we stand on the brick: we’re not sold on leaving it as-is. It still feels really awkward to us since the top end of the drywall above it rests oddly on the window (like it’s squishing it or something). And since there’s already a whole wall of painted brick to the right of the slider (in the living room) it still feels awkwardly disjointed from the rest of the house in a way that a painted brick wall would not.
We did think about trying to gray-wash it a little first (with watered down paint, stain, or even by rubbing some cement on it) just to see if that helps to tone down the red – as demonstrated by my poor Photoshop attempt below…
…but that still feels like not-as-seamless-of-a-solution-as-painting-it like the brick in the adjoined living room. So that might be where we end up.
As always, we promise to keep you posted! Oh and speaking of future planning in here, we’re putting more thought into the window-seat-under-the-window-wall idea, so that should be exciting if we decide to go for it. You know we’ll share all the details as we creep along.
Oh and as much work as we still have to do in this room, I must say that this has definitely reconfirmed for me (once again) that painting a room is an awesome way to make it feel like it’s yours. Our sunroom suddenly doesn’t feel like a forgotten project-room stuck on the side of our house, it’s actually starting to feel like a place we can hang out on a lazy Sunday – which is exactly how we used the sunroom in our first house, so it has us all sorts of excited about the possibilities. What did you guys do this weekend? Was there any painting or planning? Any other pole-related projects going on?
Casey says
I cannot get enough of the Rockport Gray/slash/Flagstone moody gray paints. They are the absolute BEST with white trim! Love!
John @ Our Home from Scratch says
Brilliant color choice! Love it.
Kim Weigand says
I don’t know if anyone else has suggested this since you only have a billion followers, but what about hanging a wall of curtains over the brick wall in something that coordinates with the gray walls…it would provide a backdrop for the sofa/daybed. Just a thought!!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s another possibility, we’re just not sure we wouldn’t prefer the clean look/function of painting it (in a sunroom we have learned bugs can infiltrate, so we’re going for fewer drapey things for them to collect in/hide where they meet the floor! Haha.
xo
s
diane says
I like the idea of painting the brick the same color as the interior brick. I would also add a small display shelf across that whole wall so the window didnt look quite so unfinished and the shelf would match the molding on the sliding doors.
Bethany says
I love the gray! It’s a great wall color. At first I saw the exposed brick and thought it was great, but I totally agree that it looks weird since it doesn’t go all the way up…it will look good painted, or maybe you could do some kind of plank wall above the brick so it looks intentional and stands out. I will love to see what happens!
Melissa Davies says
Looks great! I love how the brick looks with the gray, but with the sight line from inside from painted to not painted brick I can see how you might want to paint it. :o)
I think your room reinforces that using grays is not a gloomy room make. Using grays pulls your eyes to windows and provides a great frame for the beautiful green beyond.
Laura says
Looks great – what an improvement! Now, paint those bricks!
Trude says
It looks fab! Really love that color. You guys are studs for getting that much painting done in that amount of time! I did a lighter version in my bedroom and it really does make all the white trims pop, while still reflecting enough light. Makes it feel really warm and cozy too!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, thanks Trude! we love being called studs ;)
xo
s
seansmom says
Great job on the painting!!
John..when I paint where I have to use a pole and reach/look up, I use a cervical/whiplash collar around my neck to ease the strain. I used to do stenciling and I got mine from my chiropractor after complaining to him about neck strain.
And your paintbrush on a stick is a trick that a lot of painting contractors use for hard to reach/narrow areas. It’s quick, easy and gets the job done nicely.
Oh..yes… I vote for white on the bricks..think that would be the best solution for that wall.
1008hollywalkpark says
I’d leave the brick – that against the grey walls looks really cool and funky.
Elizabeth says
I love Rockport Gray and it really does make the trim pop! Just painted a bathroom in Revere Pewter, left the ceiling white but I’m convinced after this post to paint it the same color. Looks like I have some work to do tonight, but it will be worth it. :)
Monica C says
I loooove your blog but *personally*, I feel you guys are totally overdoing it with the gray all over the house. I know this is your house and if it suits you, by all means but another color would be nice to see in your home. You’ve done gray bedroom, gray office, gray living room, gray beams in living room, gray sofa, gray kitchen, gray sunroom. I think it’s a bit much.
YoungHouseLove says
I think we’re just crazy about pops of color – we have brightly patterned curtains in many rooms with gray walls along with bright punchy pillows, colorful drum stools, bright art, etc. We also like the neutral backdrop for bringing in other more bold paint colors (the kitchen – which is the heart of the house – is avocado green, we have dark teal on the back of our living room built-ins and in our guest room, we have a stenciled wall in the office with hits of grellow, and Clara’s bedroom is soft pink). We just like to keep a balance so not all the walls are bright and not all of them are neutral I think!
xo
s
Katie O. says
You guys should check out Brick-Anew. You two wouldn’t actually need to order the kit, but the idea is pretty cool. I just did it on my not-so-appealing brick fireplaces, and I love the way they turned out. The website has tons of before & afters so you can see. It starts with a painted brick, but then using layers of different colors and various application techniques, you end up with a modern/clean brick wall that still looks like brick. I love the idea of keeping the variations alive and not having it just look like painted brick. I’d be happy to email you my before/afters, and fill you in on the instructions they keep a little vague until you order from them. ha! I was super happy with the kit they provide, but now that I know how-to, next time I can DIY for a lot less money. Just an idea =) Can’t wait to see what you guys decide on!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip!
xo
s
andrea says
Sorry I’m just not feeling the gray. Gray is so trendy now and to me it always looks gloomy and depressing even if there is a lot of natural light. I would have went with a slightly darker shade of yellow. It would have made it bright and cheerful and would have popped with the trin more than the old yellow cream. Benjamin moore windham cream is awesome, try it sometime!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah, I’m sure a million people would pick a different color for these walls if they were theirs! Paint is such a personal preference thing ;)
xo
s
Liz says
I vote for adding drywall over the brick to continue the smooth wall look all the way to the floor. It will make it look less like an exterior wall add-on and more like it was there on purpose.
Kylie says
pleeeeeease paint those bricks white..?
pretty please x
kiera says
Have you considered trying to make that window into a focal point? Perhaps a giant thick frame as if it were a painting – this would pull it up higher so it wouldn’t feel so squashed by the drywall portion of the wall. Don’t know how functional it is, but either create some stained-glass style art in the window panes or put a backing behind the glass and add photos, paintings, objects…
YoungHouseLove says
Always another possibility!
xo,
s
Interior Design Calagary says
I really liked how it turned out well done! Also the long paint brush is a touch of genius.
Valerie says
how about a rustic wooden bar on the brick wall??
YoungHouseLove says
Always another possibility! We just want to work with the daybed (it’s functional and meaningful since it was a wedding gift) and it works best on that wall.
xo
s
Ethne @ Wom-Mom says
Good gray. I say paint that brick wall – but gray or the color of the brick in the living room? And seeing Burger napping in the pillows reminded me of my dream last night – I dreamt that y’all told me that you first thought Burger was a girl when you got him, so you named her Hamburger, but then when you realized it was a he, you went with Burger. Because that makes complete sense. Every girl wants to be called Hamburger. Hammie. (I think I’m correct in recalling Hamburger is his full name, but you knew he was a boy all along.) And FYI, I am not a stalker dreaming regularly about you in my sleep, but I do read your blog daily, so I suppose it isn’t abnormal for your ridiculously cute dog to creep in.
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahaha so funny!
xo,
s
Kelley says
I have done the brushed taped to pole before, too. It DOES work like awesome. Sunroom looks great – Love the painted ceiling.
Sarah Reason says
Are your ceilings smooth or popcorn?
My husband aren’t buying our own place for another year or so, but we started looking, just for fun. Every home we have looked at has popcorn ceilings, which makes me worry they may be hard to paint or look really bad if we put some color up there.
If we end up with popcorn ceilings, maybe we could sand it down smooth and then paint it? I’m sure that would be a major pain. But I don’t want bumpy popcorn ceilings to be a deal-breaker on our house hunt!
YoungHouseLove says
They’re smooth, which seems to be a theme here in Richmond homes – at least 50s-70s ranches. We’ve never had popcorn ceilings!
xo
s
Karen says
I love the color… I just don’t love it in the sunroom.
One of the wonderful features of that room is the angled ceiling and soaring windows. In every picture you posted of that room my eye was automatically drawn to them. Now I feel like the room is dark, smaller and the ceiling seems lower with a closed in feeling.
It feels like a family room instead of a sunroom.
I actually think Carolina Inn Club Aqua would look awesome in there. Especially with the white trim, possibly gray painted brick wall, the cream tile floors and the sisal rug.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah, we’re sure 100 people would chose 100 different colors if it were their house, we just went with the one we liked best! In person the ceiling is very chaotic (it slants to the right as you face the brick and to the left when you face the slider outside, so it’s twisted looking. We love that the darker color dulls the weird ceiling and draws the attention to the crisp trim and the pretty scenery outside :)
xo
s
Laura says
This post made me really excited because a) the color looks amazing and even though it is only the first step in revamping the sun room, it’s a HUGE step! and b) your wall-mounted cooler/heater machine reminded me of a great Home by Novogratz ep (this one: http://www.hgtv.com/home-by-novogratz/long-island-city-multi-functional-living-room/index.html) where they cover one of those machines with a custom cover (with openings to allow air flow). Though I’m sure their custom piece was bit pricey, I bet you guys could make your own!!
YoungHouseLove says
So cool!
xo
s
Eve says
http://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/natural-looking-painted-brick-an-alternative-to-sandblasting-or-stripping/
Have you checked this out? It’s pretty crazy–not sure if it works for brick indoors though…,
Eve
YoungHouseLove says
So interesting!
xo
s
Gina says
PAINT THAT BRICK!!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, it’s on the list!
xo
s
Aoife says
Why not cover the brick with distressed barn boards? Stained in varying shades of grey it would make that wall a focal point which it is in the room as it stands due to the angles of the other walls.
YoungHouseLove says
Just because the wall is wonky at the top (it slopes to the right very strangely) so we think making it an accent wall might emphasize that :)
xo
s
Lindsey Roberts says
What kind of ladder do you guys have? It looks like it’s foldable?
YoungHouseLove says
We’ve had it for a few years now so I don’t remember the exact model, but it’s similar to this one: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100658842/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=ladder&storeId=10051#.UNR4EbYxvfY
It is foldable and it’s very helpful!
-John
Helen @ my lil adventures says
Didn’t have a chance to read through all the previous comments (hello 500+) but what about installing a plate rail on the brick wall where the drywall juts out? It would hide it and give you a place to hang things from for seasonal decor.
YoungHouseLove says
That could work, we’re just not sure if it’ll look oddly placed since it’ll rest on top of the window without any breathing room and might feel heavy.
xo
s
Maria @ Inspiration Affirmation says
This looks completely wonderful. I love how soft the lighting is when it is streaming through and landing on those pretty gray walls. I think you made the perfect choice!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Maria!
xo
s
Rachel M. says
Ever thought about just finishing the drywall down to the floor? Looks like that would be the most seamless alternative.
YoungHouseLove says
We did, but it’s more trouble and expense than we were hoping to have to go through. Hanging drywall isn’t much fun in our book, and the difference in thickness wouldn’t be solved (hanging drywall in front of the brick would just make that part jut out more since they don’t match in thickness). Hope that explains it better!
-John
Taylor says
love the new sunroom!!! I’m obsessed with pillows so please share where you got all your pillows for the sunroom.
Happy New Year!
YoungHouseLove says
They’re all from HomeGoods and Bed Bath & Beyond. Hope it helps!
xo
s
Marcie says
Do you have any painting tips for vaulted walls in which we are only painting the walls and not the ceiling?
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, just using that extender bar is a good start (it helps take stress off your back) and maybe going up on a ladder and using tape to tape off the part where it turns into the ceiling will lead to a nice clean line and no paint on the ceiling? Good luck!
xo
s
Marcie says
Thanks, Sherry. The sane part of me keeps telling myself to just hire it out but my gut keeps telling myself, “you can dooooo it!”
Maybe one day the Little Man will decide to take a 7 hour nap for me to make it possible ;) and of course let me know ahead of time his plans. Because that’s how toddlers and DIY projects work, right? :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, totally!
xo
s
Sara says
I know you guys posted this almost six months ago, but I had to share my painting-tall-ceilings story. Our house is two stories in height, but only has one story, making for some very tall ceilings. The ceilings in my room are 14 ft high. When we moved in, every wall in the house was muddy brown so when I chose to paint the room green, painting the ceiling was an absolute must. Most of it was fine using an extendable roller and ladder that extended to lean against the walls. However, like you guys, there is a ceiling fan in the middle of the room. To edge around it, my father and brother-in-law held the 16 ft extendable leaning ladder straight up and down, and I climbed up it to edge the fan. It was interesting to say the least!
YoungHouseLove says
Eeks! Sounds scary! So glad it worked out!
xo
s
Megan says
ceiling painting question! our entire house has white ceilings, we have some rooms with high vaulted ceilings and some with regular height ones, but I’ve always been terrified of painting them a color other than white. will it make the room feel shorter?? Darker?? Does it make you look up and stare at the ceiling??? We are making our house our dream home and loving the process and paint has been a HUGE part of that…. are the ceilings next!? haha interested in how you started putting colors on the ceilings and from a design stand point what it accomplishes!! Thanks!! ( Love the house can’t wait to see what you do with house #3!!!)
YoungHouseLove says
We love vaulted ceilings painted the same color as the walls! It makes the room feel enveloping and warm and not chopped up with a big white “hat” hanging overhead. So I wouldn’t worry that it makes you look at the ceiling, it actually makes it blend in with the walls and become more seamless and less “look at me” – if you don’t want to go with a wall color that you worry is particularly dark, you can also do a “half-tone” – which is 50% more white so it’s lighter but still in the same color family so it blends. Good luck!
xo
s
Whitney says
so my husband and i just purchased our first home and i have a few painting questions (since you guys seem to be painting pros!)
i notice you guys didn’t tape when painting this room… do you usually not tape? i’ve taped one room in our house that has extensive wood molding and paneling and was so disappointed with the way it turned out because the paint still bled under the tape and got all over our beautiful dark wood!! boo. so i was thinking maybe i should just free hand paint in the future without the tape. bad idea?
i also notice that you do your edges first… is that a good way to make the paint look more uniform? two coats of edging in corners and around windows and doors and THEN do the center of the walls with a roller?
last one… do you guys ever do any texturing on your walls? i haven’t seen any tutorials on your site for them. our walls are just smooth and i kind of like it but it shows all the imperfections too…. love to hear your input on wall texture!
thanks in advance for any advice or tips! you guys are my heroes!
whitney
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, if you check out our Projects page you’ll see (in the painting section) that we have a post about how we paint a room. We use a special short handled brush that gives me control and after years of practice I can paint without tape, and then we roll to smooth out those lining edges we get form cutting in. We have flat walls (not textured) so I’m afraid we don’t have tips for them, but do hear that a roller for textured surfaces can help. Good luck Whitney!
xo
s
Caroline says
Thanks for your great blog, my friends!
I just wanted to say…how wonderfully human-looking Burger’s face is this particular shot, lololol!
Reminds me of this:
http://news.discovery.com/animals/pets/human-looking-dog-for-adoption-130207gains-internet-fame.htm
….or this:
http://itsyowyow.com/2010/02/
hahahaha!…there’s a couple other ones I’ve seen on Reddit, but couldn’t find them, so I’ll leave you with this classic look-alike that popped up:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8NP85xJ2nMc/TGJYZFsymOI/AAAAAAAAFXA/4Rxx7VSqrFA/s1600/amazing+lookalike+rich+dawkins+n+emma+watson.jpg
~Caroline in NC
YoungHouseLove says
Hahaha!
xo
s