Ways to Cover a Brick Fireplace

Paint

• One of the quickest ways to update your brick fireplace is with a coat of specially formulated paint. Many hardware stores sell fireplace painting kits that include all of the tools, brushes, cleaning agents and paints you'll need to cover up the old brick with a fresh coat of paint. Cream and beige colored paints are a common option for painted brick; the lighter shade instantly brightens the space and provides a more neutral color palette to coordinate with other elements of your space, like wall color and furniture. One of the benefits of brick paint is that it retains the visual shape and texture of the brick even after the space has been painted.

Ceramic Tile

• Tiling over brick requires a bit more work and time than simply painting over the brick, but the resulting fireplace looks like a completely new fixture rather than a simple cover-up. Though you can remove all the brick and install cement board as a backing for the time, mortaring over the brick with a liquid cement is a much simpler way to apply the tiles. The most challenging aspect of tiling over a brick fireplace is creating straight lines and rows of tile; a board cut to the same width as your tiles serves as an initial level along the top of the firebox to ensure that you create straight rows. Larger ceramic tiles are easier to work with than smaller mosaic-style ceramic tiles.

Stone Veneers

• Like ceramic tile, stone offers a way to cover up the brick surround of your fireplace to create a completely new look. Large stones can be heavy and difficult to maneuver on a vertical space, so look into fire-safe stone veneers as a lighter-weight and lower-cost alternative to real stone. Stone veneers are manufactured in easy-to-install sheets that resemble laid stone. Neutral colors like white and gray are crisp and modern while warmer orange and beige shades of faux flagstone create a homey, comfortable space in your living or family room.