to paint or not to paint?

* paint brick fireplace!

that's on my project to-do list.

it should have been checked off by now so that

it would be ready for use this winter.

it's not.

i'm generally not one to shy away from slapping

paint on anything but for some reason

i feel tentative about painting the brick.

does that mean i shouldn't do it?

after we moved in i immediately painted the shiny brass

fireplace insert black.

that was easy and greatly improved things.

but in the back of my mind i knew i'd eventually paint the brick.

in anticipation of painting it this summer i cleaned her

out really well in the spring and removed the big

honking insert.

this is how it sits now.

when i took the insert out i realized i'd done a rotten

prep job before painting it. note the black rim around the opening.

so, now, i have to paint the brick.

right?

i do like the warmth of brick. i think i'm afraid i'm going to want

it back and this is one paint job you just can't undo.

however, every time i see a painted brick fireplace, like this one from

younghouselove,

 i'm ready to pull out my brush!

i also love the brick treatment in this kitchen.

and this whitewash treatment is great.

source

what to do, what to do?

i'm leaning toward a whitewash so that some of the warmth

of the brick will come through.

any opinions? i'm wide open.

~stacy~

calling all diy'ers!

i need opinions!!

our kitchen reno is under way. the upper cabs are out.

the walls are prepped and drying waiting for the next step.

the butcher block counter is in.

the sink is in.

when i started  this i didn't know what

i was going to do for backsplash. i knew i wasn't

going to buy another slab of butcher block

just to get a 1x4 cut for the backsplash.

if money weren't an issue i may have

done that, but as it stands. . . not happening.

so, i was thinking i may not have one and rather

do beadboard all the way up. or maybe board and batten.

in the end i decided against these because there

is not a natural stop point on  that wall. i would

have had to cover the whole wall on that side of

the kitchen and i didn't want to do  that.

so, i ran  up to lowes and bought a 1x4, came home and made my cuts

and tried to stain it to match my counters. impossible.

here is my question. do you think it looks bad. like really bad

to have the mix of wood and varying color?

be honest.

here are some pics to give you some different angles. the darker spots

are a rougher texture on the wood.


i know the real designers out  there might give this a giant
no but there are probably lots of things in my
house that would get that

so i need other input. i am normally pretty decisive on
decor issues but not this one.

i am open to scrapping it or keeping it.

linking up to funky junk interiors.