Paint Ideas for Rooms With Brick Walls

Paint

• Use latex-based paint to cover your brick walls in the color of your choice. To help the paint adhere to the brick, be sure and lay down a layer of masonry primer, following the manufacturer’s directions. It’s easiest to get coverage using a paint roller, however, bricks’ uneven surface and the dips between bricks for the mortar do require touch-ups across the entire wall using a wide, soft paint brush. Choose the color to match or contrast other colors in the room. For example, interior designers on The Learning Channel’s hit show “Trading Spaces” website recommend matching brick paint colors to textiles and upholstery in the room to give a soft, bright look.

Stain

• You can achieve a lighter, more subtle change than paint using a latex-based stain on the porous brick and mortar. Paint the stain onto the brick wall using a wide brush, allow the stain to remain on the brick and then wipe away using clean rags. This Old House expert Steve Thomas recommends first testing the color of the stain -- which can be unpredictable and dependent on your particular bricks’ make-up -- on a hidden or unnoticeable area. This also allows you to determine how long to let the stain remain on the brick to achieve the level of color desired. For a lighter, more transparent wash, thin the stain with water or allow it to remain on the bricks briefly before buffing it off. For a deeper color, allow the stain to seep into the bricks for a longer amount of time.

Whitewash

• One of the oldest and more effective ways to give a brick wall a whole new look is to use old-fashioned whitewash. There are a number of recipes for whitewash, but most involve mixing five parts hydrated lime and one part salt, thinned with water until the mixture has the consistency of cake batter. The whitewash is then painted onto the wall and allowed to sit. You can then either rub away excess to give the wall the weathered look of an English country cottage or allowed to dry for a slightly opaque layer of white. Whitewash can also be tinted with concrete or plaster pigments to nearly any color.

Sealant

• You can also give your brick walls a subtle change by using either film-forming or penetrating sealant. Film-forming sealants leave a thin layer on top of your bricks, while penetrating sealants soak into the brick itself. Both are acrylic-based and come in clear or slight washes of color. Whether you choose clear or a color, sealants can darken the base color of your brick and give the bricks a slight sheen, so test on a hidden or unnoticeable section first to determine if you will like the end result. Sealants also offer additional benefits, aside from changing the color of your brick; they provide a water-resistant surface that is easier to clean than bare brick and prevents gritty crumbling of the mortar between the bricks.