Milk Painting Brick

Kind of for my own benefit - I have done this one other time, and found some directions online - I couldn't seem to find anything similar this time - so I scrolled through 5 years of IG posts to find the pic of the fireplace, and thankfully, someone commented how did I do it - and I posted my ratio - that was the main part I couldn't remember! I didn't want to use special kinds of paint or anything - I didn't last time, and it's perfect.

I use regular paint - nothing special. I brushed my brick clean, but didn't actually clean it - it wasn't dirty, so I figured why bother!

I really like brick! But ours is especially "orangey" in its undertone, and it just doesn't go with the look I like. So painting is the way to go. I do want some of the brick look, so I didn't want to paint it solid.

I watered down the paint - 1 part paint, 2 parts water. I used an old brush that was kind of stiff and didn't squish when pressed against. I used a sponge made for tile/grout work. It's dense and holds up well - brick is ROUGH.

I paint the grout lines with the paint/water mixture, then use the sponge to spread evenly all the "drips". It's VERY drippy.

Work in small sections, and make sure you use a consistent hand/pressure/method, so that the entire wall has the same look.

It took me about an hour to do this space for the 1st coat - the brand new sponge looked like this at the end! Rubbing it across the brick wears it out fast!

Face done, corner coming right up!

1st coat - wet

The first coat soaks in quite a bit. The next day it will look hazy instead of painted (it will look painted when it's wet). The haze creates a base so that the 2nd coat won't soak in as much. For the second coat, use the same paint dilution, and use a sponge. Dip it into the paint, and wring it out well - and then brush on to the areas where you want to see more colour.

These last 2 pics are the 2nd coat done - it is hard to see in pics - but it looks how I want it to...I think. I may touch up a few areas with a 3rd coat once I stare at it awhile.

I think a lot of people are scared to paint brick - because you can't take it back, go back to how it was, or fix it. You can only go heavier (not the milk paint look, but the solid painted look, which is also nice). I was "ok" with a solid look when I first tried this, so started here...but I love it. The fireplace in the house has been painted since Sept 2015, and I've never once wished I didn't or wished it was different. It's exactly what I wanted for that space - so I think I'll have a similar feeling about this room.

Most of this wall will be covered with a massive TV anyway, haha!

Tips - start in the least visible area first - to get the hang of your method (area behind a tv etc)

Go light - you can always add more coats later if you want

Thoroughly cover EVERYTHING nearby - it's drippy and splashy

Wear gloves if you want - I hate wearing gloves, but will be scrubbing paint off my hands for weeks.

Don't be too nervous, or too sold on any particular look - some of the art of it all depends on the brick type and colour you are dealing with. See what will work for you, and then just GO for it with confidence. Note, you could use coloured paint - I didn't.