Our Painted Brick Fireplace (Step-By-Step Tutorial)

Our painted brick fireplace is one of my favorite parts of our family room.

As the room’s focal point, I knew I wanted to give this space a face lift as soon as we purchased our home. And it turned out to be the easiest DIY project that we knocked out in a weekend.

The black brick dramatically transformed our fireplace making it look sleek (and no longer dirty), it provides a striking contrast among all the white in the room, and matches our aesthetic so much more.

I also made a video — you can find it HERE!

Before we get down to my step-by-step guide, here is what it looked like when we purchased our home.

Before we could paint the brick fireplace, we renovated the mantel to fit our style.

Once that project was finished, it was time to paint the fireplace!

Painted Brick Fireplace Materials

High temp spray paint: Using a high-temperature spray paint for a fireplace is crucial. Regular spray paints are not designed to withstand the high temperatures generated by fireplaces and can break down, crack, peel, blister, or discolor when exposed to heat. I used two cans of flat black spray paint.
Rubber Gloves
Canvas drop cloth or plastic sheeting
Painters Tape
The Pink Stuff (for if you need to remove paint splatter from surrounding marble or tile)

Step 1: Clean Out the Fireplace

This was hands down the worst part of the entire process which required removing all the gravel, dirt, cobwebs, logs, and construction debris. I found the easiest way to suck out 30+ years of nasty stuff was with a shop vacuum.

Next, I used a damp cloth to remove any remaining dust and cobwebs covering the brick that I couldn’t get out with the shop vac. If I’m being honest, I didn’t give this part 100%…and I don’t really think you have to either. The spray paint is thick enough to hide cobweb residue and adhere to a little dust if you cannot get it all out completely. But if you want to give it a good scrub, I would recommend using a wire brush and shop vacuum.

Step 2: Protect Areas Around Fireplace with Sheeting

Once the fireplace was cleaned out we attached plastic sheeting with painters tape to protect the areas around the fireplace that we didn’t want to get paint on.

Step 3: Paint the Fireplace!

You’re going to spray two coats of paint which will likely require 2 cans, depending on how big your fireplace is.

A note about the paint: Make sure you are using a high temp spray paint. Regular spray paints are not designed to withstand the high temperatures generated by fireplaces and can break down, crack, peel, blister, or discolor when exposed to heat. I used flat black colored spray paint.

Spray your first coat. Let it dry. Add your second coat. And if you want to add more, you can, but two coats was perfect for our space.

Step 4: Removing Unwanted Paint

If you accidentally get paint on your marble or tile, The Pink Stuff will magically remove it. We cleaned all our marble with it after we removed the sheeting. I used a microfiber cloth with a dallop of cleaner and the paint came right off.

I am absolutely in love with how our fireplace turned out. The black paint interior gives this space a cleaner, more dramatic look!

Fireplace Balls

Once we finished the paint project, we replaced the gas logs with fireballs which transformed the fireplace even more! We used Hearth & Patio to order all of the materials, and we used their guy they recommend for install (he also picked everything up from the store for us when it was ready). We purchased a 24×12″ burner pan, 24 (6-inch) Rasmussen fireballs in dark grey, and a remote.

I couldn’t be happier with how this project all came together. We use our fireplace ALL THE TIME and love how pretty it is.

Family Room Sources

Construction: Atreum / Designer: Crystal Nagel Design / Frame TV / Antique Gold TV Frame / Rug (Dottie by Stanton carpet, cut locally. Color: Sterling) / Coffee Table / Picture Lights / Pillows + Inserts / Cabinet Knobs / Sofas: Robin Bruce Sylvie (custom ordered through Crystal)