The BIG question: how did our whitewashed stone fireplace hold up?
We rennovated our fireplace two years ago and it’s still my favorite DIY I’ve done. But it’s put up with its fair share of abuse:
- My kids drawing on it
- Kids touching it or occasionally trying to climb it
- Never being dusted (confession!)
And have I ever turned my fireplace on? Nope, we haven’t cleaned our chimney and I don’t wanted to burn our house down. 😅 But fireplaces make gorgeous focal statements to decorate, so I still love having one!
The Good
Two years later and I’m still delighted with our fireplace. We get compliments on it when people come over, and it definitely added resale value to our home. It’s modern, but not likely to go out of style anytime soon thanks to the neutral color palette (that’s not straight white).
It’s also been surprisingly durable! I was slightly worried about using joint compound because it can be removed with water. But fireplaces don’t really get wet. There was the time my youngest drew on the fireplace with blue marker, but a magic eraser took it off. It also took of a little of the paint though . . . which leads to the next part of the review.
The Bad
There are two possible negatives to consider with my DIY whitewash technique.
- The whitewash is water soluble. If you have to scrub at the fireplace because it gets splattered with food or drawn on with marker, then you’re probably going to be removing some of the whitewash or paint. When we had the blue marker incident a year ago, I scrubbed with a magic eraser with moderate pressure and only a few flecks of paint came off. It freaked me out at first, but if anything it made it look more like stone. I tried to find the original spot when I did a close up today, but I couldn’t find the brick—which is a good sign! My whitewash method would not be a good fit for an outdoor fireplace due to rain or snow though.
- The joint compound cracked in places. Especially where I had to fill in thick gaps, the joint compound had a tendancy to crack a little. But the plus side is that it’s a really easy fix. Just let it dry for a couple days, then do touch-ups. Even TWO years later I can still do touch-ups, like on the sides of the stones where I didn’t paint far enough back (see photos below). Easy to maintain is a win in my book.
BEFORE with small cracks
AFTER
I honestly don’t mind a few small cracks since they add to the weathered charm, but that’s an example of how quick it is to fix them.
Here’s another spot that kind of bothered me where I didn’t paint the stone far back enough.
BEFORE
AFTER
Again, really easy to fix. It took approximately 1 minute. 🙂
Then you can stand back and look at your handy work.
The Awesome
There’s a reason my DIY whitewashed stone fireplace post is one of my most popular posts. A $60 DIY project that makes a major wow factor, plus can stand the test of time and be touched up when needed?
That is what DIY was made for!
So if you’re considering it, try it! You can always wash it off if you need to, but you’re going to love it. Send me pics of your completed project and I’d love to do happy dance about your gorgeous fireplace with you.
Hello! Thank you for your work and tutorial! I am considering doing this on my brown stone fireplace BUT I don’t have those cracks between your stones that you have. I have a grouted stone. Would I still need joint compound? Or how would the process be different? Thanks so much!
Hi Alisha! I think it depends on if you like the color of your grout. But if you’re doing the whitewash, then I would paint the stones, then whitewash over the whole thing, both grout and the stones to get a cohesive look.