apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Agreed. I think they both look good, so as long as the owner is happy with it.....

Much, much, better!! What an improvement! Gorgeous!

Hope all those who hate the idea of painting brick come around!

Thanks for sharing the "after"

I agree it brightens the room considerably, but I rather like the warmer texture of the exposed brick.

Poor ol' brick walls being covered up.. When I scout for a loft, I always look for a wall like your former one. Well, its YOUR home, to each one's own.

Love it!

I like both too, but I would be thrilled to have the 'after'.

I love it too. i actually wish i could do that to my place - i love the feel of painted brick. anyone know of where i can get inexpensive brick siding for indoors? all the exterior stuff is expensive!

Much better, it's really nice and bright now. Thanks for sharing.

I love it! Great job!

I understand the love for the original brick wall but I think that in this space - long and narrow with light sources at the end and with the brick dominating - painting it was a HUGE improvement.

Everything is more light and airy and the beautiful pieces you have really pop out.

I was opposed, but it does look great!

I preferred the original but this is definitely much brighter. And your mirror is amazing!

I would have been one to vote for not painting, however the resultant light-filled space is gorgeous! Good job.

I think the result is absolutly stunning. I know that natural brick in a lot of cases looks beautiful but in this case it really did make the room so dark. I Love it!

Ooh I love the painted wall, the room was just a tad too dark before but now it looks so much more spacious and light.

Nicely done! Though I would have voted against it, you made the better choice.

I'm about to move in a house made of bricks, so I can really thank you for proving my point to my husband: bricks are beautiful, but they make room look darker. The "after" room is so cheerful and bright !

Obviously it is an improvement. Congrats.

That Art Deco? mirror is wow... i would have been hesitant but the white looks great in this case.

Love it. I am not a fan of unpainted brick walls inside homes. I feel like they suck the energy out of rooms.

I too would have voted no, but now that you've done it, it looks great.

Wow, the room looks so much brighter and airy! And yes, I agree, that mirror is gorgeous! Thanks for sharing.

i think it's a huge improvement. i think the argument should be based more on the individual space rather than a blanket do or don't. i would have painted the ceiling with a some barely there pale pale blue. it would go with the details in the room and reduce the look of a big white warehouse.

We bought a co-op in Brooklyn six years ago with an entire wall that has exposed brick. The appeal has vanished completely. Yes, it looks great. But it flakes dust everywhere, all the time. Everyone I speak with who has exposed brick encounters this problem. It isn't healthy and it looks terrible on the floor. We're going to paint ours soon, as well. It seals the dust and also looks so much brighter, as the photos prove. There are some who suggest "sealing" it with a poly coat, but those tend to turn an orange color over time (and don't last), according to our research.

The after is absolutely gorgeous! Liked the before too. But I prefer the after! Stunning mirror.

Its like you moved from a basement level unit to the top floor!

Wow! It brightens up the space so much!

Wow. I was skeptical about painting the brick when the original post went up. But the 'after' is fantastic!

Also-- love that dining table. Where from?

I think it's brighter after because the before picture was underexposed not because of the unpainted brick.

I didn't even notice the great furniture before! It looks terrific!!!!!

Dammit! I hate being wrong!

I like it, but it's a little too stark white for my taste... The far wall has a more beige-y tone to it that I would have reproduced on the brick to give a bit more warmth. But yes, the space is brighter and lighter!

I would have said no.
but WOW it's beautiful.
and there's your natural brick,
outside the window!

I prefered the former. Sorry.

The wall feels cold, empty & sparse now. Like you covered up a beautiful original painting.

You know, normally, I'd be totally against painted brick.

But it definitely lightens up the place and makes it feel brighter. Whether or not that's the result of the post-painting photos being taken with a flash, who knows.

I still personally wouldn't paint brick, but I do like it.

Hope all those who hate the idea of painting brick come around!

Nope. The white sucks all of the warmth out of the room. I'd have prefered to keep the bricks and use more mirrors or light-coloured artworks to break it up if darkness was an issue.

Still, as others have said, the beauty of home ownership is that you're free to do as you like. Hooray for capitalism!

I think the white looks great but there was a problem with the old room that could have been solved by brightening things up without painting the bricks.

Not loving it. At all. And I'm not a fan of exposed brick - anything but. In that space though and with those furnishings I thought it worked. It's not just that the room looks a bit "cold" - that actually wouldn't bother me, I'm into minimalism and zen and love white rooms. But now the room looks strangely unbalanced and unfinished, and also sorta cluttered.

I think the balance issues are happening because horizontal lines have become too dominant in the room. Most of the furniture tops out at the same vertical level, except at the corners. The unpainted brick was a strong vertical and asymmetric element which counterbalanced that. Now the room has a "spin cycle" feel to it - everything is pushed to the edges, and the tall stuff is bunched up in the corners.

I'm not sure why the mirror isn't helping with that. Maybe because it's functioning as a room divider it isn't working as a counterbalancing vertical element, but is simply reading more as structure. I'd go with some kind of tall shelving unit as a room divider, sparsely populated with large objects, and use the mirror in the living room as a vertical decorative element.

I think the room feels cluttered because before the brick provided a large, irregular surface along one wall - the rest of the room felt orderly in comparison, and the objects in it looked larger. Now you have this big blank wall which reads as neutral, so suddenly the biggest source of irregularity in the room has become the furnishings and the other contents, which all look smaller as a result. You may need to pare them back, and also increase the scale of the remaining pieces to match the scale of that big white wall.

Whee--white walls. Why not just throw up some knotty pine paneling while you're at it?

better to use brick walls as a texture to be personalized, rather then a design element in its' natural color.

i think you made the right call.

I liked the "before" better. WAY more homey. Where did the gold walls in the hallway go??

Gorgeous. I think well-painted brick is the most beautiful thing ever. Good job! Besides, you can always take the paint off, producing a very interesting "pickled" look if you tire of the paint. Messy, but who cares :-)

I think it looks AWESOME. So much better. I am a big fan of natural brick or natural wood when it enhances the space and is of substantial quality. That's not what you had. I hope you are happy with it, because it really is stunning. It's a warm white and the texture still adds visual interest even without the gradations of color you had before.

now instead of using the brick to add warm and breaking up the brick wall with other colours, you have succeeded in making a boring cold white box even when given great material to work with. I just imagine how peeved the next buyer is to have to remove the paint well at least you will get less money for it from having painted the brick so I hope you really like the changes you made.

TheoJ,

That's a little harsh, don't you think? Read the comments above yours. The majority of the people who posted PREFER the painted brick. Those "peeved" buyers you imagine running away in disgust or making lowball offers on the apartment next time it's on the market probably don't even exist.

And to the other commenters who prefer natural brick--read cineman's comments. If you haven't ever lived with it, you can't know how dirty and messy it can be, especially when it gets old.

I do like the after, but I concur with ilima, it looks like the pictures are a result of photographic tinkering not actual results. In the before I didn't even realize that was a mirror on the wall, whereas now it's obvious.

I am not knocking it though, I do think it looks lovely-bright and airy. And if that's what she wanted more power to her.