How to Paint Brick

In this post: Learn how to paint brick, including which types of paint to use. Painting a brick fireplace is an inexpensive and easy way to brighten a room.

Brick can be a beautiful accent in a home. I love aged brick walls — especially in old farm kitchens or peeking out from crumbling plaster. However, sometimes brick just feels dark and heavy. That was definitely the case in our dining room and it had to go.

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I use to live in the “big city,” as they say; and would always head to Lowes and Home Depot for paint. Not that there is anything wrong with those stores; but I love our local, small hardware store. While the selection is smaller, they are always so much more knowledgeable when it comes to answering our questions.

After doing some internet research, I expected to be purchasing a masonry, brick and stucco paint; but the paint tech suggested otherwise. He recommended a can of Zinnser Primer, which he tinted to match the paint. He said that after using the Zinnser Primer I could use a basic interior latex paint. As usual, I chose Porter Paints Hi Hide — in a Semi-Gloss finish so that it would be easy to clean.

I expected to be painting this brick for weeks. All I had heard about brick was how much it would soak up the paint… plus there were so many little crevices. However, this combination of paint turned out to be very impressive.

1 Coat of Primer

2 Coats of Primer

1 Coat of Paint

Next, we painted the face of the brick.

This took some time, but the primer and paint were both easy to apply. Buy good paint! It makes a huge difference.

Now, we just get to enjoy it. The best part, of course.

If you’d like to see more of our finished dining room, click here.

If this wasn’t enough to convince you, check out 10 more Painted Fireplace Makeovers by clicking Page 2, below.