My Plans to Lighten the Brick Floor in My Foyer
This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read my Disclosure Policy.
A round up of whitewashed brick floors that have inspired me to paint mine.
Brick Floor in Foyer
Brick Floor in FoyerHere is what the brick floor looks like from the second floor.
The front entryway of my house is a 2-story open space with a staircase and railing with lots of white balusters across the second floor.
Do you remember when I painted them? EVERYTHING used to be brown. I named the post with the tutorial on how I painted the balusters: How to Paint Staircase Balusters Without Losing Your Mind :-)
The space has come a long way, especially after we created a closet under the staircase with a hidden door to access it.
Back in the summer, I painted the sideboard a navy blue. I love the color and it added a needed pop of color to the large open space.
I also love the brick floor, but would like to make the design layout of the bricks have more impact. I got an idea on how to do this when we were finishing up creating the hidden door under the staircase.
When we sanded the walls, it created a lot of dust. I liked the way the white dust settled into the recessed mortar areas between the bricks.
So much so, that I started to look for images in Pinterest and Instagram on how I could paint the brick. I am thinking about adding lime or whitewashing over the mortar lines so they are a subtle white to look something like the brick floor in this room.
Or like this brick floor.
I don’t think I will add as much white to the bricks themselves…
…but more to the mortar like I was whitewashing the grout on a tile floor.
I think the white will add just enough accent to add impact to the brick layout and more character to the floor overall.
Floor Decor for a Brick Floor
Many of you have suggested I add an area rug to the space. This does look nice and adds a layer of texture and color.
I have played around with a few area rugs over the 3 years we have lived in the house, but ended up removing each. We walk across the space from kitchen to bedroom and back. All the rugs I have tried look great, but they end up becoming a tripping hazard. A few were too thick and the front door would get caught on them when being opened. Plus, we don’t use the doors to come and go… everyone enters our house through the garage or lake side of the house. At these doors I have door mats to wipe our feet.
We found the rugs a nuisance. So function has won out over pretty.
In the fall, we added new darker flooring to the master bedroom. The golden wood floor in the kitchen will be getting refinished a darker color very soon. It will be nice when all the flooring will be a similar darker shade that will make the rooms flow better into each other.
With all the floors around the foyer finally the same shade, I think adding white to the recessed mortar areas will make the floor pop, making it have more visual impact.
White washing would be awesome. Fixer Upper show did this to so many fireplaces. I love it. With you changing and staining your existing floors the white wash will look great. Make sure you check out the maintenance and if there is a sealing process for any reason. Good luck
Kelly
Hi Kelly – I have been doing research on the best treatment from stripping all the wax and dirt off the bricks to get them clean all the way to sealing. Thanks to Fixer Upper there are a lot of tutorials showing many ways to go about it. I have to choose one now. :-)
I am adamantly against painting brick in almost every scenario. Once painted, brick loses the natural depth and richness of the material and also loses the “low maintenance” aspect. Painted brick always looks like a bandaid—typically done over brick colors that are considered out of fashion. In this instance, your plan to lightly wash the brick sounds like it will work well and also be timeless in its design.
Thanks for sharing your ideas and for providing us with hints of the finished product.
Hi Barbara – That is how I feel about the exterior of my house. I really don’t want to paint the brick on it, but for the floor I am excited about it. I will post as soon as I get it done.
I think that is a great idea! Can barely wait to see it done.
Thanks Sheryll – I hope to start early next week.
Love the idea of whitewashing! Can’t wait to see the finished product!
I think that’s a great idea. I solved the rug solution with the Flor tile rugs in a very sturdy material. Our door was the main one into the house and all the wet, dogs, mud etc. were tearing up my wood floor. So many different rugs with the same problem as yours, too thick and tripping hazards. The Flor tiles stay in place and the ones I chose were not too thick. I will admit that they are not as pretty as other rugs, they are practical and you can add some more color with them.
Hi Mary- I love FLOR rugs. I have one in my studioffice. It is the best! I considered using one in the foyer, but decided to go rugless in the room. :-)
Hello, I am in the process of cleaning and i am gong to seal my brick floors in foyer and livingroom. what do i use to seal them? What did you use? After thoroughly cleaning bricks they look dull to me.
Hi Joanne –
I didn’t seal my brick, I white-washed it. It is a matte finish. Did you see the AFTER? If not, you can see what I did in this post: https://bit.ly/3j7uzl8
If you want to seal your brick, first decide if you want it to be shiny or not and then choose a product that has the sheen.
If you use water-based poly, this will sit on top of the brick and will not go into the surface of the brick. It may slightly deepen the color of the brick. Poly is fine to use as long as your brick is dry and no moisture is in it as you don’t want to trap moisture that could cloud the finish, like a water ring on a table. You can use oil-based poly, but that will yellow over time.
If you want a porous sealer, you can seal the brick with Miracle Sealant: https://bit.ly/3924teG It is a wipe or roll on that I believe has a matte finish, but it will protect the surface from stains.