We painted our exterior brick… but it’s not what you think. Many people ask us if we’d ever paint our little brick ranch but the truth is that although we heavily considered it back when we got it, we’ve grown to love the look of our home’s exterior and completely appreciate the lack of maintenance. See, brick ranches are known for their durability and ease of ownership (no siding replacement, re-stuccoing, or repainting- ever). Plus here in Richmond if you paint a brick house any medium or light tone (and you know we’d want a tan house with white trim, right?) green mold will start popping up, which requires a thorough scrub down with bleach at least once a season. Can you imagine scrubbing the entire exterior of your house? No thanks.
But back to the matter at hand. If we didn’t paint our brick house how the heck does that title make sense? Well, our sunroom was added about twenty five years after our house was built so it was tacked on in a way that it partially overlapped some of the house’s existing brick exterior (which then became interior brick in the sunroom. See, here I am (on the first day that we laid eyes on our house, incidentally) modeling in front of the sunroom:
But after a while we realized that painting the brick wall inside the sunroom to match the soft tan color on the rest of the walls would immediately make the room feel more cohesive and balanced. So we whipped out some exterior latex paint (since our sunroom isn’t temperature controlled) and got her done. Other than using an exterior paint, we followed the exact same brick-painting tips that we outlined here, so be sure to check them out for the play by play. And here’s the result:
At first we worried whether seeing the same unpainted brick just beyond the glass door to the left of the wall would be weird, but looking back we realize it looked weird before, when the random brick wall carried over a few feet into our sunroom.
Now the days of pre-painted brick are long forgotten. But we do have another mini-update to share regarding this very spot…
…so stay tuned over the next few days to see what we did (hint: it’s not a baby).
p.s. psst, have you updated your bookmarks / reader / blogroll / outgoing links / Twitter/ Facebook yet? If you’re still heading our way using old TYH methods, they won’t last for long so don’t forget to make the switch! We’d hate to lose a single one of you DIY-lovin’ dudes and dames.
Kate says
I love painted brick despite its maintenance requirement, I am toying with the idea of painting our own front brick fascade since the only portion of our house that is brick is the front (all other sides are wood siding). The sunroom looks great, who would have thought that simple project would product such a fabulous result! What color paint did you use – I love the creamy color!
Kylee says
Your sunroom looks great! My new house has one and I can’t wait to rip up the green astroturf and paint the cement floor! Thanks for the inspiration.
Caitlin says
Looks great!
You are right that it makes the room look more cohesive!
I love that row of jars, too!
Tara says
*happy gasp* Where did you find that clock? Love it!
Mary B says
Looks great- we looked at a house once that had a similar sunroom area- except it had a great brick divider (half wall size) through it making one side about 75% of the room, and the other 25%. I still don’t know what the purpose was of the divider.
Rebekah says
Looks splendid! I like your big clock, too.
And, I thought you painted that little book shelf green? Maybe you had two, though. I hope you painted it orange for your mini update… orange would match your little orange tree. :)
Holly says
L.O.V.E. the way this turned out! Fab job as usual. And while I do love a natural brick house (my Dad’s a lifelong brick mason and I work for the family company), I think painted brick is gorgeous – especially that tan color! And then when the paint starts flaking off a little you get that nice distressed look… Love it :) And while (some) green mold would only add to the charm (maybe it could be mistaken as moss?!), I don’t think you’d want that growing on your house!
Christin says
The wall looks great!
This may be a dumb question, but how cold does it get in Virginia? I live in Chicago so I’m used to -17 degrees on cold days in the winter and can’t imagine having a room that’s not temperature controlled!
Cathy says
love it! It really adds to the room, while the brick before felt like a bit of a distraction. Great job!
Beth says
OMG that looks awesome y’all! I love it!
It really makes it look a lot more cozy in there. I was just in older home this past weekend where they did the same thing- and on the same color! Craziness.
Great Job. I’m so excited to see what else y’all have in store for us. Congrats on the new name too- it’s MUCH more fitting :)
Lisa says
I love it, really pulls the entire room together. I can’t wait to see what the surprise project is!!
Laura says
Fantastic! You guys have such an easy going style — I love it! Is that tree in the corner fruit bearing? Edible or just decorative?
kasey at thriftylittleblog says
You made the right choice! It looks great.
Danielle @ Hello Owl says
What a HUGE improvement, it looks fantastic.
Angela says
It looks great. I may have missed a previous post about this but it looks like you painted your dog as well.
Mrslimestone says
I love painted brick too but it sounds like a complete pain so I can see why you decided against it. Looks great in your sunroom though.
Katie says
Our house and our sunroom are the exact same way! Now we have a great new idea to explore, thanks! :)
Christa says
Love it – looks like you made the right decision!
Amy K. says
I love the painted brick wall, and I LOVE that clock! Where did you find it?
Renee says
Wow. Awesome timing. I’m thinking of doing the same in our sunroom, too. I’ve bookmarked the tutorial, thank you so much. Also, I’m heartbroken to hear you give painting the exterior brick a “thumbs down.” We have a similar brick ranch (in Arlington) and it’s not half as cute as yours! I thought if I painted it grey (black shutters, red door) perhaps it would look more “New England” charming and less blah. LOL The washing would definitely suck though, you’re right.
BTW, new to your blog and LOVING it. Cheers! xoxo
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Renee,
Don’t get us wrong, we love painted brick exteriors! In fact some of the most amazing homes here in Richmond are painted brick estates and they’re nothing short of amazing. It just probably wouldn’t work for two busy DIY peeps like us since we’re too cheap to hire someone to clean it for us and we’re too busy painting something to have time to scrub the house down ourselves!
xo,
s
Desiree says
Thank goodness you didn’t paint the outside of your house! I admit when I saw the title of your post I kind of went ‘oh no’ inside. I should have known you guys would only do awesome stylish things and this one is fantastic as usual! Love it!
Kristi W. says
Love it (as usual). Question: Are those cute potted plants on either side of the little bookshelf real? If so, what are they? And if they are fake, where did you get them? I’d actually like to pick up a couple fake-but-real-looking plants for certain areas of our home that don’t get much light. Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey everyone,
So glad you’re diggin’ our little brick-painting project. The clock is actually from… (wait for it)… Target! It’s something we snagged a while back from the Thomas O’ Brien collection but I bet they have something similar in the clock/art aisle. As for the bookcase, we did actually have two of ’em (and we painted one a soft green color for the living room and left this one natural since it works with the teak so well). As for how cold it gets in Virginia, it’s pretty mild compared to the New York winters of our past so the sunroom is usable three seasons of the year (spring, summer and fall) while in the winter we just count down the days til spring again so we can go read “outside” on the daybed. Winter is only a few months here (usually Nov, Dec, and Jan) so it’s not so bad. As for the little orange tree in the corner, it’s a fauxpiary (fake topary) that we made a while back with branches from Pier 1 “planted” in an Ikea planter. And the other two fauxpiaries that flank the bookcase are from Crate & Barrel (here’s that story). We’ve tried tons of real plants in the sunroom but the cold of winter always seems to do them in. Oh and we didn’t paint our dog, we just have two of them (a concrete one in our living room and the ceramic one you see above (snagged for just $29!). I’m weird, what can I say. I just can’t say no to a life sized animal facsimile. Oh and the paint color is Lyndhurst Tan from Valspar. Hope it helps!
xo,
Sherry
susan says
I think the painted brick inside the sunroom really pulls the room together and makes it look more finished. I’ve seen colonials, cape cods and cottages with white painted brick. I think they look more charming when the paint starts to wear off and you get a bit of the brick showing through. You’re right, though. You don’t want to be turning a non-maintenance item into a maintenance item (as my husband is so fond of saying)
Oh, I didn’t comment on the post where you detailed having to change the name/url of your blog ’cause I figured it would just get lost. I’m so glad you are keeping this blog up. When I saw the title of that post I actually said “Oh no!” out loud … at work. Heh. You’re one of my favorite DIY home sites and I really love the make-overs you do for others.
Keep it up! Y’all are too talented not to.
yansy says
Love the transformation. It’s amazing what a little bit of paint can do. You guys rock!
Kim S says
Ha! I just cracked up at your “Hint: it’s not a baby.” I suppose it’s best to clarify that after the guessing game last week! :o)
And I love the sunroom…you two have a great eye for projects as usual!
Christina says
I’m always very leery about painted brick, but this has got to be an exception. Definitely looks less like an afterthought addition and more of a “real” room.
guinnevere says
I agree the paint makes it look more cohesive. I could even see something in the corner to divide up the exterior from the interior more. maybe a curtain that stays open or some kind of climbing vine. I guess that would incorporate the outside again…ideas are endless. So fun! I miss that about my first house.
Hannah says
WOW – that made a HUGE difference, and so easy to do but big impact. Looks great.
http://barnmate.com/blogs/bagelpower/
jan says
Looks great! It really makes such a difference!
Liz says
LOVE the brick. It was meant to be that way, most definitely! I too am becoming obsessed with white ceramic animals. (It might be the only kind of pet I ever own?)
Blair says
Question for the Youngsters: Did you hang the clock on the brick using a special drill bit? We have one wall in our front hall that is nothing more than a thin coat of plaster over the exterior brick wall, and I’m trying to see if I can hang stuff without buying a use-it-once tool.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Blair,
We used a masonry drill bit (pretty cheap at HD) and drilled into the mortar between the bricks (we try not to drill into bricks themselves if we can help it!). Good luck…
xo,
s
Denise says
Does your next mini-update include a little bar or counter for passing and placing food from the kitchen to the porch? The painted brick wall looks so clean and crisp – great update!
Laptops to Lullabies says
Haha you are going to have to put “P.S. It’s not a baby” on every single teaser post — otherwise we ARE going to cross our fingers for one! :)
Jill Stigs says
Looks fantabulous! All your vignettes look super great!
Yeah, you just may have to put a disclaimer on each and every post that it’s not a baby until it actually happens! LOL
Mandi says
I think it looks great. The lack of black shutters on the window in the painted area reinforces that it’s a different space, and helps it not seem weird that there is painted on one side, and natural on the outside. Even if it does require some washing to upkeep, it’s just one small area. Really, sunporches come with a certain amount of cleaning anyway, so that you can treat them like places to sit and not get filthy. We had an enclosed patio/pool in Florida, I know exactly the greed crud of which you speak.
Jenny @ Words On Wendhurst says
Ok, I am confused. Hasn’t this wall been painted for a long time? I remember seeing pics of your ceramic greyhound a while ago, and the wall was painted. So… did you repaint?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jenny,
Sorry for the confusion! This is just us revisiting an old project we never blogged about, so while we didn’t recently paint it (in fact, it was something we did over a year ago) we never explained the how and the why- and since we have another post about something that we added to that corner of the room we figured an initial post about painting the brick was in order. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Jeff says
Hey there J & S.. You’ve just gotten a new URL and now you already have some work done on your baby err, home. I like the attitude. Keep ’em coming guys!
Nice tip there about drilling into the mortar instead in the bricks themselves. It’s logical to do this however, not all of us have common sense. Thanks.
PRISCILLA says
Just curious where you bought the rug in your master bedroom. It doesn’t say where on your source list…=)
YoungHouseLove says
Oops have to update the source list Priscilla- thanks for the reminder! It’s from World Market. Here’s the old post about it: https://www.younghouselove.com/its-only-natural/
xo,
s
Jenny @ Words On Wendhurst says
Ok, that makes much more sense! Thanks for the clarification!
Melissa says
Looks amazing!!
LizzieBeth says
Hey Youngersters!
Looks great. I have a friends who have a house REMARKIBLY similar to your house (must have a been a popular style in the 1950s) right down to the sun porch added 25 years later. They wanted to paint their brick, but thought it might look strange. I can’t wait to show them this post to give them the green light!!
LB.
laura says
I literally laughed out loud when I read your hint. Still laughing, actually.
Melanie@The Old White Cottage says
I’m so glad you posted this. I have the exact situation on my patio and was just contemplating painting it the other day. Nice to see that it can look great!
court. says
looks GREAT! What a simple fix—makes all the difference.
Cecily T says
Isn’t it funny how you can just get used to the oddities of your house that you haven’t yet remedied? We are here 2.5 years, and there’s stuff I just look like I’m seeing it for the first time and say, “What were we thinking?”
…but then I have to remember that I was pregnant when we moved in and too tired to do anything!
jessie says
you painted your dog that used to sit in your living room – duh! looks awesome!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jessie,
Nope, we’re just crazy enough to have two dogs! A concrete one in our living room and the ceramic one you see above (snagged for just $29!). I’m weird, what can I say. I just can’t say no to a life sized animal that never needs to be walked or fed.
xo,
s
Angela says
I love the way the painted brick looks. The contrast of the clock next to the window is really unique. I love it!
Megan says
I have to agree the painted brick is much better than the original brick colour flowing into the sun room. It defines the space better. LOVE the colour.
Loren says
Love the painted brick, never really commented before but I had a quick question. What is in the white basket between the ceramic dog and your teak chair? Is that a Burger bed? It seems awfully high for him to get into.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Loren,
Good eye! That’s a big leather trimmed basket for blankets that we use while we’re lounging on the daybed if it gets too breezy, but Burger is known to jump in there and make himself comfortable when the mood strikes…
xo,
s
ellen says
our home is brick, too — and yes, relatively maintenance free – except for the dreaded tuckpointing! Ugh, we’re getting ready to start requesting bids – fortunately, it looks like it’s just going to be needed on the front of our house (previous owners had recently tackled the sides and back).