Limewashing brick fireplace with Romabio Limewash

You know when you move into a new house and you love everything about it? And then you sit with it and little things start to nag at you… For me, one of those little things was our red/grey, brick façade fireplace. So, I decided to limewash the brick with Romabio Limewash.

My main issue with the color

When we moved in here, I thought the red brick on the fireplace was charming. But as I began decorating it from season to season, I found the color seems to blend in with a lot of my natural décor elements. Specifically, this fall as I was decorating the mantel {HERE}, I really felt like I couldn’t see the detail due to the color of the brick and the grout.

Maybe if the grout had been lighter, I would have left it alone. I did love the red, but it all seemed so one-note. There was no contrast between the brick and the grout and it all seemed to be cloaked in a muddled grey. I needed a bit of a contrast between it and all of my natural and vintage décor.

Before you yell at me…

Our fireplace is a brick façade. It is pieces of brick that were sliced off and glued to my wall or a wooden base in the case of my hearth. It is not full brick and it is also not vintage. Our fireplace was built in 2017 when the large addition was built onto our 1900 farmhouse. So, while it may have some charming features – Hello big hearth and pretty, natural wood mantel! – we aren’t ruining a piece of history.

What is limewash?

Limewash is a technique of changing the color on brick that has been around for thousands of years. It goes on similar to paint but Limewash is actually crushed limestone that’s been heated and mixed with water. It lightens the space you’re applying it to and bonds with the brick and allows moisture to evaporate through it. In contrast, paint sits on top of brick and seals the surface.

Limewash has been around so long that it was used to create some of the most famous Frescos in all of Italy. Today companies that sell lime wash – like Romabio Limewash – often add natural pigments so that you can get a bit more variety in color. It is specifically made from brick nut you can actually use it on simple drywall too to give the walls some character.

Romabio Limewash

We used Romabio Limewash in Avario White and we only needed one gallon to complete our fireplace. The Romabio Limewash is made from Dolomite lime in Northern Italy, which I love because it just makes it more authentic to me. It is a European slaked-lime, aged and the formulated to be durable for generations while giving you a natural, authentic look on your stone.

It comes in a concentrate so you must add water before using it and mix it up. Romabio suggests adding 50 -70 percent water to the mixture. We added 50 percent water so there would be more of an opaque look to our final product.

DISCLAIMER: We did not partner with Romabio on this project. This post is a reflection of our true results and my honest opinions on the Romabio Limewash.

What materials do you need to limewash?

It didn’t take much to limewash the fireplace – at all! All we needed was the following:

• Romabio Limewash in Avario White
• A large Masonry brush – This was great for covering a lot of surface area.
• An angled brush ( This is my favorite!) – This was perfect for going and giving some spots a little more coverage.
• A very small brush – Needed for cracks, details and edges. I didn’t use blue tape around any area except for our fireplace box.
• A spray bottle with water
• A ladder to reach the top of the fireplace
• A drop cloth or taped craft paper {HERE} like we used. The Limewash is drippy since you add so much water so even if you’re a painting pro, at least protect the floor.
• Large plastic bucket for mixing
• Paint stir stick
• Small bucket – If you’re doing a space like the fireplace this is nice so you don’t have to carry the large bucket around with you.
• Cloth for wiping down the brick after 24 hours

The steps for Limewashing INSIDE

1. Before starting it’s important that the brick or stone is clean. We vacuumed our’s since it has a tendency crumble and then I wiped it down with a cloth.
2. Make sure all your surfaces are protected. You can used the kraft paper like we did or a drop cloth. We protected the floor and the fireplace box, but that’s it. No taping on the walls. I just used a smaller brush there.
3. Mix 50 – 70 percent of water with your limewash. Again, we used the Romabio Limewash in Avario White and mixed it with 50 percent water right in the bucket. You can use the Limewash bucket to get the water and eyeball the percentage you want.
4. Use the spray bottle to spray down the section of the brick you want to paint so it is damp.
5. Begin painting! I recommend starting from the top because if your fireplace is like mine, it’s the hardest place to reach.
6. Wait for it to dry. The color will look deceiving because it dries lighter. I recommend waiting 24 hours to see the real color.
7. Once dry for 24 hours, decide if you want to remove any of the limewash and allow your brick to show through. We decided to skip this because we loved the look as is. But, if you want to do this, take your spray bottle and a cloth and wet the cloth. Then spray the area you want to remove the limewash. Rub lightly.
8. The limewash will take a total of 48 hours to cure. This means after 48 hours you won’t be able to remove any of it with water and a cloth. But you have up until then to decide, which I LOVE.

Limewash finish

Whether you’re limewashing brick inside your home, brick outside your home or even using limewash on a wall to create a beautiful texture, it will be a flat, chalky finish. I personally love the way it looks. It really adds a bit of old-world character to my 2017 fireplace.

Limewash bonuses

There’s a lot to love about Limewashing, like the fact that you get a completely unique look to your home. You get to decide how much or how little is used and how much original brick shows. There’s not a lot of products that change the look of something while giving you that freedom. But there’s a few other things too…

• Romabio Limewash is environmentally friendly. The limewash products are mineral based and  made from nature. They are not acrylic or latex paints.
• It allows the brick to breath, which is specifically important for brick outdoors that gets wet.
• There’s no smell with limewash. If you hate the smell of paint, this is the better way to go.
• It is naturally mold-resistant
• Limewash has a high UV and is fade resistant, which allows you to enjoy the color for a long time.

What other questions do you have about limewash? Ask me below and let me know what you think of the before and after!

Thank you so much for coming today, friends! If you’re thinking of painting something this year, check out the trending paint colors {HERE}! I hope that you will come back again to see what else we’re up to here are Sugar Maple Farmhouse!