Smeared!

There are pretty brick houses and ugly brick houses. Our new house was one of the latter. We could have had the brick painted, but that would have entailed sealing the brick and painting two coats. Instead, we opted for a mortar smear- literally smearing mortar over the brick. It can be done with tinted mortar or just regular ol' mortar. It can be done with a heavy hand in order to completely disguise the brick, or with a light hand to just soften the brick. Our house definitely called for a heavy-handed smear!

The brick layer came over and smeared a little test area. It was just what we were looking for.

Then, while I was in California, they smeared the entire house. James was a bit nervous about being in charge of this part of the reno as he wasn't quite sure what the smear was supposed to look like in the end, but he sent lots of pictures and I sent back reassuring replies!!

We love our smeared house!! The painters have finished the soffit and fascia, as well as the gutters and downspouts in a matching color, Anonymous Gray (Sherwin Williams). One of the undesirable characteristics of a ranch house is the low roof/ceilings. My decorator, my mom (Honey Pot), pointed out that by painting the soffit and fascia the same color as the brick you are, in essence, adding an extra foot to the height of the house.

It is crazy what different color bricks did to the look of the roof! Having the trees fully leafed out probably plays a part. I also love how the downspouts disappeared when painted the same color of the house.

Next we'll paint the garage door and shutters- Black Raisin (Valspar). When the front porch project is done, it should look like a different house!!

Love ya'll,

Shelli

Life is change.

~Heraclitus of Ephesus