Do you want to learn how to German Smear (aka white wash) brick?
This post will tell you how to German smear your red brick fireplace and give it the look of an old rustic farmhouse! After reading this post you will find that it is super easy and it only costs about $20 to do it yourself. This look will transform your home and give it tons of character!
- Grab white mortar & water
- Mix to combine and slather onto bricks
- Rub into grout lines and scrape off excess mortar
On the left side of the picture above, you can see the original brick fireplace from the 70’s. It made our living room look really dark and closed in. I wanted to change up the look and not use paint. I find that paint doesn’t look as real nor do you get the texture the German smear technique provides with actual mortar.
After
Items needed:
There are a few types of mortar so be careful, you want to make sure you buy White Mortar not the traditional grey color mortar, I made the mistake so you don’t have to. To get the German smear look you can use this type of trowel as well as this style trowel which I used to spread the mortar. You will also need a sponge, gloves, knee pads (optional), plastic drop cloth, ziplock bag, a bucket and a crow bar!
The whole process to German smear the brick fireplace took me a few hours from start to finish including clean up. No biggy for such a beautiful end result!
You can watch the entire process on my YouTube Channel Momma From Scratch!
How I decorated my German smear brick fireplace for each season!
Here is how I decorated my German smear brick fireplace for the seasons. I went with a fixer upper inspired look with a twist.
I hope you found this helpful and that it will inspire you to whitewash or German smear your red brick! Its super easy to clean: just vacuum as normal! I did this DIY in the summer of 2017 and its the best decision I’ve ever made besides getting married and having kids! It makes the room so much brighter and gives it so much character; I get compliments every time people see it! Thank you for stopping by; I hope you stay awhile and have a beautiful blessed day! Emily
Here is how I decorated the brick fireplace for Christmas 2017! How do you plan to decorate your German smear fireplace? Let me know your thoughts on the before and after, which do you like better?
Momma From Scratch posts mentioned:
How to German smear brick fireplace Diy Floating Wood Mantel
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