Note: Our heads are still spinning from the terrible tragedy in Connecticut on Friday. We’re sending lots of love to everyone up there and holding Clara close. Our friend Roo, who has three small children and only lives a few towns away from Sandy Hook wrote a post about how we can help, so for anyone looking for ways to make a small difference, here’s that link.
Some brick-painting happened in the sunroom…
Which we don’t think will surprise/sadden nearly anyone on the interweb since we heard so many war cries of “paint that brick!” after sharing our last sunroom post…
We even got a bunch of more passionate and detailed pleas like: “I’m never one for painting brick but that’s such a weird shape that’s cut off at the top and doesn’t look good from the living room at all… so paint that brick!”
This used to be the view from the couch that I stared at every. single. night. for the last 2+ years, so… I was ready.
So after considering everything from whitewashing it to distressing it (which would make it more of an accent then just letting it fall back and blend in) it was time to PAINT! THAT! BRICK! Feel free to shout that a la Ty Pennington’s MOVE! THAT! BUS!
As predicted, it looks a lot better from the living room now. Whew.
Oh and this view demonstrates why we didn’t feel like drywalling over the brick in the sunroom to hide it, since:
- that’s a lot of work/dust (plus it wouldn’t match up perfectly with the drywalled lip above it anyway)
- there’s still painted brick in the adjoined living room anyway
- we actually love the texture of painted brick, which we had on two walls of our first house’s den
Holy cow, check out the dollhouse in the two pictures above. Not a thing has moved in the almost-a-week between this paint job and that last picture. But the floor mat near the slider along with Clara’s Uglydoll are nowhere to be seen. Better remind Clara that the dollhouse is still there (and it’s a better toy than moving the floor mat around, haha). She’s been pretty into playing in the sunroom now that it’s not full of hazards and old furniture anymore, so maybe that has been taking the focus away from her “furniture rearranging skills” (aka: the dresser-and-bed-switching/throwing/hiding Olympics that her dollhouse provides).
Oh and we got a few questions about why we didn’t just clad the whole wall in wood or make some sort of rustic accent on the triangle above the brick, but the major thing that we’re trying to downplay about this room are all the crazy angles. See how the ceiling slopes waaaay to the right on that wall?
Well if you turn around it slopes to the left. So yes, it’s basically a spaceship of a room with a diagonal peak in the ceiling that slopes from corner to corner. As in it looks like someone glued an angular and modern room onto a flat little brick house. So we want to downplay those zany angles and help everything flow so it feels like it belongs here with the rest of the house. Which is why a nice blanket of gray paint over all the walls and ceilings was the name of the game.
For all of you visual folks, this is what it would look like (per some bad photoshop) if we had accented it somehow – with wood, brick, etc. See how it would emphasize that weird slope? Which would totally fit into a super modern house with other slopes and lofted rooms (like Gloria and Jay’s house on Modern Family), but we just didn’t think it would go with the rest of our non-slanty-or-futuristic house.
So grease paint was the word. And in some insane gift from the home improvement gods, it only took two coats (brick suuuuucks up paint, so we thought it would take four, which is our usual experience with it). We didn’t use any sort of primer – since we didn’t back when we painted the brick in our den and that worked out for us – and as usual I wielded the brush (for getting into all of those cracks – yeah, there were about a million).
My name is Sherry and I paint cracks by the dozen. Meanwhile John rolled using a nappy roller, which helps to coat textured surfaces more than a super smooth one does.
We actually got nearly the whole thing done during a Clara nap, so you can go ahead and file this under “Christmas miracle.” And my hope for anyone else who is painting brick is that it’s as quick and painless as this job was. Even all that crack painting could have been muuuuch worse (painting every crack twice beats painting every crack four times, if you know what I mean).
Here’s what they looked like before I got to them with the brush, but after John rolled. They were sneaky little buggers.
And just for fun, here’s what Burger does while we work away in the background (don’t mind my inside-out-sleepwear-as-painting-clothes). #hubbahubba
The good news is that the nice even coverage that we eventually accomplished made a huge difference. Now when you’re in the room it feels more cohesive and a lot less chopped up. And we think adding some nice art to that wall will further take the focus away from any difference between drywall and painted brick (our first house’s den had two walls of paneling and two walls of brick, but once it was all painted with furniture and art and curtains it was barely noticeable).
Just to save you some scrolling, here’s the full after of that wall again. It’s definitely a lot of gray, but we’re just getting started…
And here’s what it looked like before.
Why didn’t we do this sooner? Over two years of staring at a weird U-shaped brick blob in the next room is two years too long.
I can’t wait to hang some art on the brick wall to make that off-center window fit right in. Sing it with me: “white frames, white frames, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?” Thought you guys would like some Inner Circle on a Monday morning. No? How about some more bad photoshop then? And actually, I think we might work some wood frames/items into the mix too. Might be fun and eclectic.
But even without any frames, it’s a definite improvement just to have broken out some fresh paint. Basically blanketing this room in taupey-gray has done five things:
- it draws the eye out the windows to the pretty trees outside (the windows/view are definitely the stars of this room)
- it downplays all the crazy ceiling angles and the choppy-looking brick-cut-off conundrum by unifying everything
- it allows things like the colorful cushions on the daybed to stand out in a way that they couldn’t when they had to compete with the dark brick
- it makes the floor look a lot less yellowed and old (brings out the gray undertones instead of the yellow ones)
- it makes the white window trim and molding pop like crazy, so the room feels crisp and updated
Of course we still have a long way to go when it comes to the furniture arrangement. We’re just using things we already have in the meantime, but eventually I’m sure a lot of things will get moved/upgraded/painted/etc. And we still have to bring in a rug, art, and all that jazz. And don’t mind that sad wrinkly sheet on the daybed of those orange slabs of wood along each slider where it meets the floor. Let’s just say that a ton of things are just waiting to be “attended to.” But the middle makes no sense anyway! Haha. What did you guys do this weekend? Can you tell I’m all jittery and weird? We’re hosting Christmas dinner for the first time ever (for fifteen people – four of which are under the age of four!) so it should be a whole lotta crazy. As expected, I can’t wait. You know I love the crazy…
Psst- To see this little sunroom makeover from the beginning, click here to read about phase 1 (planning, furniture placement) and here for the details on phase 2 (painting the lofted room and ceiling).
Psssst- Speaking of paint, one of the most freeing things about writing our book was that it allowed us to chose paint colors that don’t necessarily have to fit right into our house, so we’re over here chatting about stretching our color comfort zone.
Michelle - Little Paper Dog says
This room is looking so stinkin’ cute! Love!!!
Autumn says
Looks great! Your comment about hosting Christmas made me think of ours last year. I hosted 14 people at my house, including 5 kids ages 5, 5, 4, 3, and my ONE WEEK old baby. It was crazy but wonderful! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Ahh, that sounds crazy with a one week old baby! Glad to hear it was wonderful too :)
xo
s
Maggie says
Since you did the whole Ty Pennington thing, I’m going with the whole Oprah thing….LOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVEEEE IT!!!!!
I didn’t have an opinion before, but wow. What a difference. Great job!
YoungHouseLove says
Hah, thanks Meggie! Love a good Oprah impression on a Monday morning.
xo
s
Carole says
We rock the gray too. I love how everything pops off of it.
John @ Our Home from Scratch says
I always hold my breath whenever someone tells me they want to paint brick. It can sometimes go wrong or invariably hides some character. You guys were able to pull it off though. It looked awesome. Definitely the right decision!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks John!
xo
s
Jen says
I totally agree. In this case I think the paint actually brought out the character in the brick. Maybe it was just hard to see beyond that orangey-red color, but I never noticed before that the wall was so beautifully craggy. The gray has accentuated that so there is a lot of interesting texture, but the calm color keeps things from looking too messy and brings the wall into harmony with the rest of the room and house. Nice!
Lindsay says
Not sure if you answered this already but LOVE LOVE LOVE the pillows! Are they new?
YoungHouseLove says
They’re actually all about a year old from HomeGoods and Bed Bath & Beyond a while back. You can see them in the background of Clara’ birthday party. They’ve just been living quietly in the sunroom. Haha!
xo
s
amber peters says
it looks awesome! I love the fun, bright pops of color with that neutral gray.
Ashli says
I think it looks great! I’ve always wanted a sunroom – hopefully in my next house!
Linda says
I’m usually not one for painted brick, but that was a great decision! The room just flows so beautifully now with the rest of your home. And doesn’t BM paint have great coverage? For me, once I got over the sticker shock, I so appreciated both the colors and coverage that paint offers.
Wishing you and all your extended family a very happy holiday and a healthy and happy 2013.
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, it’s totally addicting. Two coats on brick instead of four = amazingly helpful!
xo
s
Katie @ Suburban Fervor says
Love Love Love!
I love the colors you pick for you home (and the ones in the linked post). I have such a hard time deciding. I want this elusive blue/gray that has been popping up everwhere but all the colors I choose are too blue or too gray or too dark or look like a baby’s room. My life struggle. My living room looks like a patchwork quilt of colors I’m not going to use. Haha!
Suni says
Swoon alert.. I’m in love with your newly painted brick wall. :)
Alex - Old Town Home says
The painted brick looks great! It makes the rooms flow so much better together. As someone who’s recently done quite a bit of brick painting, I FEEL YOUR PAIN! What an annoying task. I have to force myself to stop looking at the little nooks and crannies that didn’t get paint, even though we did 3 good coats. The next time I need to paint brick, I’m absolutely using a paint sprayer.
Jill says
Huge sigh of relief :-)
Looks so much better. Though knowing you all, if you had decided to keep the brick color, you would have found a way to rock it.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Jill! You’re so sweet.
xo
s
Caitlin says
A have a quick question for you involving painting brick. Have you had any problems with the painted brick over the years?
I am asking because I live in a loft condo with brick walls in different parts of the house. While I love it, the one big wall has too much work needed — pointucking (concrete is cracking) and there are big splotches of different bricks so the finish is different. When I mentioned wanting to paint it to a contractor, he said that it will cause problems over the years and suggested that we “acid wash” it. I would rather paint than deal with acid in my house, hence the question.
Thanks for your help!
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, we’ve never had any issues with painted brick over time (we painted the brick in our first house and 4.5 years later when we moved it still looked great). I think if there are splotches on your brick it might be sealed, which could cause the paint to go on differently in that area? Not sure since it’s nothing something we’ve tackled. Anyone have advice for Caitlin?
xo
s
Alex - Old Town Home says
Caitlin, I might know what you’re dealing with. If you live in an older building, and the brick walls you’re dealing with are exterior brick, painting the brick *can* cause issues. Brick is a porous material, as is the mortar, and it is meant to breathe. If you use the wrong paint on the brick, it seals in any moisture that gets trapped. Over time, this moisture may erode the base of the brick, causing it to sort of foam up and disintegrate. I’ve seen it first hand in our house when I took down some sheet rock that had been placed over an exterior wall. Part of the brick was painted in a gloss white oil paint, the other part was unpainted. The unpainted brick was in good shape, but parts of the painted brick had turned to dust.
Your contractor is probably suggesting an acid wash because it colors but doesn’t cover the brick and allows it to breathe. But if you use a good quality outdoor 100% latex paint, your brick should still be able to breathe as it needs to. And if you’re priming (which you probably should), use a latex primer, not an oil based other other primer.
Newer brick has fewer concerns than old brick, because it is much harder, as is newer mortar. Good luck!
KatieLou says
Don’t acid wash! We had brick floors in an old ranch years ago, got the same bad advice. Worst mistake ever.
The brick must be clean, that’s the main thing. Brush off the flaking/chipping, then wash it down with TSP (a bit messy, but you can control it), then let dry thoroughly (like a week).
hen dust it off gently, and paint with thin coats, don’t glob it on…as many as it takes. I’ve always just used a waterbased house paint. But Don’t.Do.Thick.Coats. Do as many as it takes, probably 4. The middle will scare you – like YHL says – but it can make a huge difference.
Erin says
Every time I see the title to your blog posts, I get some song in my head the rest of the day! It’s usually a good one though, so thanks for that…
The wall looks great! Lovely shade of gray.
Casey says
“We gotta crack Gretchen Wieners. We crack Gretchen, and then we crack the lock on Regina’s whole dirty history.”
“Say crack again.”
“Crack.”
Sorry, couldn’t help myself, with all that crack-painting talk. Hope you get the reference!
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahah! Crack.
xo
s
Jenn says
It looks a thousand times better! I know the middle makes no sense, but even at this point it is a vast improvement. I also love the shade of gray you picked!. And those pillows – totally swoon-worthy!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Jenn!
xo
s
how2home says
LOVE what you guys did to the sunroom! So bright and colorful. Great job YHL!
Megan @ Rappsody in Rooms says
I LOVE it! It definitely maks everything pop more! I can’t wait to see the other accents in there. I’m all for some rustic wood…but I’m always up for rustic wood!
This weekend was crazy busy for me because I made Roman Shades using mini-blinds (just put that post up today!). I thought Sherry would be interested since she has been making shades like crazy!
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds cool! Off to check it out!
xo
s
Kristine says
That looks so, so much better! And good luck finding Clara’s Uglydoll! We are surprising our 6 month old with two Uglydolls for Christmas after she couldn’t stop giggling at them in the toy store. : )
YoungHouseLove says
We actually found that on sale at TJ Maxx a while back! Picked some up as gifts too!
xo
s
Koliti says
Ahhhhh…..I bet your eyes are thanking you for the painted brick (I know my eyes are thanking you!)
And Sherry, you are no longer a pillow-hoarder! All of your FUN & colorful pillows are joyfully beautifying your sunroom for all to enjoy! (ok…I know I might be pushing it a bit here and that John is laughing so hard he can’t breathe…because you probably have A LOT more pillows somewhere…But hey, a few more can fit on the daybed…and…baby-steps, right?!)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, if you only knew. John is ready to throw pillows out of windows these days. Haha!
xo
s
Ashley {GirlyObsessions} says
I love it! Love the brick texture! Adds even more dimension to the room. And I LOVE the bright pillows! Where are they from?
YoungHouseLove says
They’re from Bed Bath & Beyond and HomeGoods a while back (you can see them in Clara’s birthday party pics in the background).
xo
s
Ethne @ Wom-Mom says
Indeed, much improved. Very impressed at how quickly it was painted! I always envisioned brick to be a master of disaster and I don’t think I’ve ever read a yhl post where you’ve done it before, never having been in the market for such, myself. Painting furniture was a big step for this gal, thanks to you guys!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, you can do it! It’s not exactly each when the roller leaves so many cracks behind, but following it with a brush isn’t too bad! Good music while you do it is a must. Haha!
xo
s
Christina @ Homemade Ocean says
I love love love painted brick! I love the texture it brings to a room. We painted our fireplaces white after seeing it on one of our favorite websites….HERE :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha!
xo,
s
Olivia says
I am not normally in favor in painting brick, but DEAR GOD that looks about a million times better. I love how it blends in now and makes the white in the room pop, not to mention, takes attention away from the kooky angles. Congrats! I bet that is soooo satisfying.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Olivia! It definitely makes a giant difference when I’m sitting on the sofa at night. Makes me all smiley. Haha!
xo
s
Jessy F. says
Looks great! It would be fun to suspend art from just above the brick–as if the line b/t the brick and the drywall was a picture rail (à la Making it Lovely!)
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh yeah I love how she does that. Always another possibility!
xo
s
Melissa says
ONE MILLION TIMES BETTER!!!!
Lindsay says
What a difference paint can make. For some reason, I always think painting brick is a bad idea until I see it and then I’m convinced again and again.
Glad Burger was helping out while snoozing on pillows. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, he’s such a huge help around here. Couldn’t have done it without him.
xo
s
Sarah says
Paint..much mo’ better…In the vain of using what you have,..I think the horse picture you removed from your bedroom would look awesome in there, to the left of the window…if it happens to be lying around the spare room!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah, we’ll have to bring him out and see how it looks! I keep thinking we need more color than that but it’s worth a shot!
xo
s
lindsay says
Hey John and Sherry! I’m a loooooong time reader! That Sunroom looks tons better with the painted brick! Check out my new online home decor store http://www.hattanhome.com. After my hubs got relocated from Manhattan to Rehoboth beach with the military, I decided to start my store. I secretly always hope I will run into you on the boardwalk!
YoungHouseLove says
So much fun!
xo
s
Kenz @ Interiors By Kenz says
That looks a million bucks better!
SOLID!
Tina Bland says
I love it!!! I think the gray looks puuuurfect. I don’t think its too much gray at all, but then…my whole first floor is practically gray;) Plus with the pictures, it’ll be lovely. Such an improvment!
Barbara says
WAY BETTER!!!!
BrookeJ says
Looks really fantastic. Looking at the pictures you posted, the sunroom now looks like an interior room in your house instead of a patio. Looks fabulous, as always!
Gabriella @ Our Life In Action says
Oh I love it!!! It flows so much better from one room to the next…much better than the red brick.
Great job!
Lauren says
Love it!
Karen F says
massive improvement!! love it!
Luke says
I couldn’t quite picture this, but it looks fantastic. Have you thought about adding dark grey beams? They could disguise the lip, create more continuity with the next room, and give you a strong horizontal line to diminish the strange ceiling angles. Love the mixture of colors on the daybed, too!
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh that’s another idea, although we worry it might draw more attention up to the slanty ceiling.
xo
s
Jen says
It looks amazing. You guys have a really great eye for this stuff.
Amy says
SO much better! It’s amazing how something so simple can make a massive improvement. I feel like I’m always kicking myself for not doing things sooner!
Jen@The Decor Scene says
LOVE how it turned out. The room looks so much better now. Can’t wait to see this room evolve. :)
Kara says
Awesome, everything blends and makes so much more sense now, plus I don’t think you can ever go wrong with grey.
Sheila Fox says
looks FANTASTIC!
Caitlin @ Desert Domicile says
Wow! What an amazing improvement! Can’t wait to see what else you do!
Lara says
Woop there it is!! You did the right thing. It looks great!
Heather says
I absolutely LOVE the painted brick! I wish I had a post like this to convince my husband about painting a room grey when we did it two years ago. Thankfully, he trusted me when I told him we were painting it grey and accenting with yellows. He thought I was CRRRRAZY! But he loves me, and knows that a happy wife is a happy life, so he went along with it! Now it’s a trend!
As for your Christmas dinner, we have it every year at our house for 13 people, and I have three kids five and under of my own! It will be hectic, but so worth it! Be sure to remember to take a break and snap some photos, I always forget and then have no pics at the end of the day! Merry Christmas!
YoungHouseLove says
Great tip Heather!
xo
s
Christine says
Wow– love it. Looks more modern to me, but in a good way, that matches the rest of your house. I don’t think the sunroom before really looked modern so much as ’80’s, which it is, right? Not that that’s a bad thing!!! When I first saw the photo, I thought you might go with big artwork with maybe a few smaller pieces, but I love your photoshop of the wall o’frames.
Christine says
and thank you for your post about Newtown.
Emma (Broke Ass Home) says
This looks ADORABLE. I love how the bright colors pop out. Plus, you have to think about how you’ve made a blank slate. As bloggers, we like to move our crap around all the time so by not having that jarring color in the brick you can now accessorize to your heart’s desire!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, amen!
xo
s
seabluelee says
Good decision and good job. It looks so much better!
Peggy says
Yes! That looks much better.
I have to tell y’all about the dream I had about y’all’s house. The yellow, empty walls were pretty bad, but the worst was the basement “rec room” with blue carpet on the walls, ceiling and floor! I have NO IDEA where any of that came from. I was so glad to wake up!
YoungHouseLove says
Hahaha, so funny!
xo
s