The big brick wall... den question

Our new house has an entire wall in the den that is brick where the fireplace is. I don't like the look, but what I want done is a major project and entirely aesthetic and the house needs too many other more important things upfront like windows, doors and siding, and of course - paint and some flooring as well as a few other things that are more functional than preference. We do know we want to paint and carpet the room and we are talking about buying a new sofa/love seat for it. What colors look good for paint and carpet and furniture when you have one wall that is entirely red brick? I'm thinking the renovation will take place in a few years, but isn't a priority.

Re: The big brick wall... den question

Paint it white!!

(pic I found online)

Re: The big brick wall... den question

totally paint it white.. it will look awesome and you will love it..I think Heather did it and fell in love with it, if I remember correctly?

then, you can do any colors you want!!!

Re: The big brick wall... den question

I would never paint brick.I think it can be chic if you work with it the right way.... I would go a darker beige wall and bring in chocolate leather chairs to give it an old pub type look. If all else fails you can sheetrock over it for sure.

Message edited 10/18/2010 4:17:25 PM.

Re: The big brick wall... den question

Re: The big brick wall... den question

paint it white, looks so much cleaner. I just painted my bricks white, and it was the best thing!

ETA- while those pics above are beautiful, most people do not have bricks that look like that. those are either extremly old, like 80-100 years, or a new install with an "older" look. most homes on LI weren't built with bricks like that.

the OP probably has the standard LI brick look. deep red and dark brown to black grout that look nothing like the above pictures.

Message edited 10/18/2010 4:07:12 PM.

Re: The big brick wall... den question

Message edited 10/18/2010 4:11:14 PM.

Re: The big brick wall... den question

i love brick! I wish my fireplace was brick, instead of ugly black tiles blah!

Re: The big brick wall... den question

I would LOVE a brick wall like that

we had a brick wall in our dining room, but unfortunately the previous owners had painted over it (it was the former back of the house with an extension added on so i know the bricks matched the outside of the house and were in good condition)

Once you paint brick, you can never go back.. it's extremely difficult to remove the paint from all the crevices and grout (believe me, we tried)

we ended up sheetrocking over the whole thing and you'd never know there was brick there at all

i think you can get some really cool looks with a brick wall - you can go traditional, modern, funky eclectic etc. it's all in how you choose to decorate around it and what you hang on it

have fun!!

Re: The big brick wall... den question

Thank you all so much... gave me a lot to consider and ideas.

I showed the picture of the white wall for DH, he was like for what it is... we both eventually still want it changed. To the poster that said it's easy enough to just throw sheet rock over, the thing is that b/c the fireplace is there, you still would have to frame it out somehow... I would want to either leave the brick down the center or change it to stone, not sure what it's called but it looks like stone sideways if that makes any sense. I saw a house that had a den like ours, but only the center where the FP was brick and the 2 sides of it were sheet rock. I also have 2 little kids, so anything white is a little frightening , but it's a great look.

For now b/c as one poster said, once you paint brick you can't go back... I said to DH lets paint the other 3 walls a light but warm color like say a sand color but warmer if that makes sense so that we warm up the room but brighten it as the brick is dark. Leave the brick for a little bit, install whatever flooring as we are considering the new porcelain floors that look like wood but wear better with an area rug... buy a new microfiber sofa and loveseat in a light brown with some dark brown and sage throw pillows, put sage/brown curtains over the sliding doors in there. I like lighter furniture b/c we have cats and darker colors show more hair. I like warm colors for a den. It'll still be a few weeks before we take possession, but this thread helped me visualize ideas... I'm not good at imagining a finished look so bare with me if you see a few postings looking for ideas before we put a brush to walls.

My brick definitely does not look like the very nice old brick in those pics.. it's the brick that was probably done in the 60's/70's when the house was built.

ETA: I feel if we can't live with the brick but not ready to do the construction we can always throw white paint on it ourselves at that point. One other question, would you use the same type of paint you use on walls? Is it water based?

Message edited 10/18/2010 8:46:38 PM.

Re: The big brick wall... den question

This is our den...green walls

Image Attachment(s):

Message edited 10/19/2010 9:43:51 AM.