Taa-Daa!

Here are a couple of projects I have been working on.

Before

After

I don't have a before picture of this chair, but you get the point. Painted white and re-covered. Remember that fabric?  It was the large sheet I had gotten from the Thrift Store.

Ok, this last before and after is a big one.

Before

After

Yes I gave our backsplash a little make-over. I really did love our old backsplash. In fact it was one of the things I loved the most when looking at our house to buy it. However with the fresh coat of light paint on the walls, the back-splash just seemed to dark. Plus, I LOVE the look of painted brick. 

While our backsplash isn't huge, it was still a big project for me. Painting brick is no easy task and is definitely time consuming. I stood with the paint brush in my hand for a long time debating if I should do it or not. Its not something that you can really undo. Once that paint is on, its on. What if I hated it? I finally just dipped my brush in the paint, and without looking did one quick swipe over the brick. Ah, to late to go back, so lets do this.

First I washed the brick with a water and hydrogen peroxide mixture. I had to make sure all the grease and everything was taken off, or the paint wont stick in those places. I let the backsplash dry for a good 4 hours before I did anything else. Brick will often appear dry, when in fact it really isn't.

Next I had to prime it. I got a good primer, guaranteed to stick to anything (ceramic tile, metal, you name it). The bricks weren't shiny, so I didn't need to sand them. However I was sure that there was some sort of protective seal on them, so I did two coats of primer on them, making sure that the paint would stick and not eventually chip off. Like I said, painting brick isn't easy. You have to make sure you get into every nook and groove with that paint brush, and then go back again and again to make sure there are no drips. AND you have to do that with every single coat of paint you do.

Next was to put the actual paint on and make that backsplash look polished and shiny. I used Behr, two in one paint in a semi-gloss. Its paint with primer built right into it. I know I know, I already did two coats of primer, but this paint is the good stuff. This paint is thick and will last. I ended up doing three coats to really get that shine I was looking for. It turned out great. After doing my first coat of paint, I was sure I would want to do some sort of urethane to make it more shiny, but after the third coat, it was perfect. 

The whole room really seems a lot brighter now. It even changed the color of the  cupboards, making them appear lighter. I love the look of the white brick with the dark counter top.

Do you have backsplash that you cant stand or want to change? Go ahead and paint it, it may just change the whole look of your kitchen.