Dark Brown House!

9 years ago

We have a seventies, dark home with mission brown beams, pine lined cathedral ceilings and dark brown brick walls. We don't have the budget to plaster the walls so are thinking of painting beams and all the window frames/ ledges etc and leaving the pine ceilings. Not sure whether to paint over all the mission brown trimming with an off white ( feel stark white would only highlight the dark brown bricks) or go for another light/ earthy colour. We are also installing an off white roller blind on all the windows. Any advice would be appreciated. Have attached pics to help give context to this question!

Featured Answer

Barbara Dunstan

9 years ago

last modified: 9 years ago

Kerri,
I agree with zen_gardens about painting the brick and leaving the timber for now, as the timber will take on a new appearance against the white.
Bare in mind that if you want to seal and paint or render the brick, it will be expensive enough and wasted long term if you then cover it up with plaster, so perhaps it might be better to save up and wait till you can afford plaster.
I know it's not a task for everyone, as we are building our own home and will be doing everything including hanging the plaster, thus saving allot of money.
Nowadays, workmanship and material is on a ratio of about 80% versus about 20%, respectively.
Plaster sheets in fact are not that expensive, it's paying someone to hang and stop the joins etc...but if you were handy enough to give it a go yourself, you might get to your goal just as quickly, not spend that much more and maybe be lots happier.
Best of luck.
Cheers,
Barbara

Comments (13)

zen_garden
9 years ago
I'd be more inclined to paint the bricks white and leave the timber details, ie the ceilings, timber doors and the mantle. It's not too hard or expensive to render the bricks yourself if you just do one wall at a time. You can buy ready mixed render and once it's dry you can paint it. Those bricks are always going to make it feel cave like and suck all the light out of the room. White walls are the way to go.
PRO
BOUND interiors
9 years ago
We had a house with a similar feel, exposed bricks and lots of wood - early 1980's, very brown. Painting the walls made the space look and feel completely different! Bricks take a lot of paint and effort but I think that would really lift the overall aesthetic, both in terms of brightness and bringing it up to date.
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elzermank
9 years ago
Why don't you try a little experiment with limewashing some of the bricks? Super cheap, easy to do and you can do as many coats as you need.
Sam Ridley
8 years ago
Get some trades people in to put up gyprock to cover the brick walls. The fireplace can remain brick so it becomes a feature.
dohraime
8 years ago
I think starting with windows is a good idea. Personally I'd stick with using something from the white palate. If you plan to plaster down the track, you'll want something that won't limit your choices in wall colour. I feel an earthy tone on windows may limit you.

With windows done and blinds hung, you'll start to see a lift. You could hang large light-toned fabric wall hangings and mirrors to give the eye resting points from the brick.
dohraime
8 years ago
p.s. When you do undercoat, that will give you an idea if what stark white will look like. Keep in mind if using enamel paint, this tends to yellow over time. Especially if it doesn't get much natural light.
I've noticed that where I live. The trim in the south facing room has yellowed whereas the other rooms are good.
hollana2
8 years ago
Hi Kerri,

I had a similar issue in my home. Look at 'Long room makeover' on this site. My original intent was to plaster the ceiling and the walls. I had already decided to put in sky windows. With these in, the room was much lighter although the exposed beams meant there was a good deal of shadow at the ceiling level.
My budget, like yours, was getting a bit skinny to I only sheeted the ceiling (actually it was done yesterday) and the difference is quite astounding. I am not going to plaster the walls now but will cover with bookshelves and artworks.
Your bricks are not nearly as dark as mine and it it may be that more light into the room via sky windows may do the trick.
Good Luck with it all.
mrjudsonjames
8 years ago
Ok, clearly you want to get a big change, but don't have the budget for it just yet. So you need wallet friendly options.

My suggestion would be to whitewash ALL the brick walls. It literally is the fastest thing you will ever do and is ridiculously cheap as you water down the paint. If you try painting the brick instead of whitewashing, it may look whiter, but bricks soak up so much paint and it could cost you a small fortune. So I'd whitewash until youve saved enough money to do what you'd like in the long run. Once you've whitewashed, then also assess if you want to paint wood trims in white, but you probably will as it will still contrast nicely with the not so white of the white washed brick. Possibly don't paint the actual ceiling beams

Other cheap suggestions with big impact I'd possibly do would be to choose one solid unbroken wall in every room (like the long wall on the left side of the pic running from the living into the dining) and simply stick up connecting wood panels you can buy from Bunnings, then I'd paint them a white along with the pine panels in the ceiling so it all matches. This helps to break up the feeling of soooooo much brick in every room and fits in with the other theme of all the wood.

Possibly also make a feature of the fireplace by black washing it? Same idea as white washing, just use black paint instead. Or you could just paint it as its only one small area. Would really make it pop and break up all the white. You could possibly also team this with staining the ceiling beams in an almost black, would make all the beautiful features in the room stand out!

What ever you decide, good luck and have fun!
pruner
8 years ago
Painting the ceilings and top of the chimney breast initially would be an option - awkward but rewarding. If you then decide to paint the brickwork, water the walls down first (spray bottle as you go) to absorb the moisture and more paint will be sucked up in the first couple of (several) coats. Pressure spray painting should work, with some practice.
Whichever choice/s you make, try to retain some of the darker detailing (eg beams) as a contrast and for architectural interest,
siriuskey
7 years ago
2015, wonder what you did, we have a similar home we love our sandstock brick and timber. Hoping that you didn't paint the ceiling and beams and left windows natural. White washing some or all of the bricks would look good. Did you look into bagging the walls, you can still see the brick shape but is easy and inexpensive to do, would love to see an update.
Kerri Robertson
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
The finished product! We paid renderers to come in ( can't see in photo. It can still see outline of bricks so they technically didn't do a thorough enough job but so much lighter and modern now regardless!
siriuskey
7 years ago
It is magic, what a change, agree that you didn't get render more like bagging/ragging reminds me a bit of rammed earth walls, but it looks so good, you must be over the moon

Dark Brown House!

Barbara Dunstan

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BOUND interiors

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