Some of you know that I retired last April so I finally decided to tackle a project I had been wanting to do for awhile...whitewashing my dark rock fireplace......
Besides the dark dated color, I also didn't like that the installer had placed the rock veneer on the front to end short of the pieces on the sides so I had visible ugly grout lines "walking" up both sides of the fireplace!
Before the whitewash I filled in the grout lines with concrete repair mastic and "created" bigger rocks that went all the way to the ends....much better than before!
After the first coat I thought the overall effect looked dull.....the rocks didn't seem to have any texture and just faded into the grout lines.....
Besides the dark dated color, I also didn't like that the installer had placed the rock veneer on the front to end short of the pieces on the sides so I had visible ugly grout lines "walking" up both sides of the fireplace!
Before the whitewash I filled in the grout lines with concrete repair mastic and "created" bigger rocks that went all the way to the ends....much better than before!
I used ideas from both Pinterest and YouTube for my project. Both suggested using a 50/50 (water/paint) mixture of Chalk paint in a light gray color. I used Rustoleum Chalked Aged Gray and began painting with a sponge brush, then I tried a large sponge and also used a regular bristle brush to get into the deep crevices of the rock...
I let it dry overnight then the next day I began dry brushing with a 50/50 mixture of white latex flat paint mixed with water. The rock began to look so much better but wasn't as white as I had hoped so I added even more white to the mixtures and coated the rocks again...paying attention to highlighting the high spots.....this made the grout lines show up better and added some vividness to the rock....
I think I like it!
and it's "Kitty Approved" too!
