Whitewashing Brick

It feels so good to check projects off the list. I did a previous post on the brick wall in my living space that doesn't really fit into the cottage vibe I'm going for in my house. I posted on it before to get opinions on if i should paint it or not. 

Take a look at the before.

 One of the sweet girls that commented gave me the idea of not 'painting' the brick but 'whitewashing' it instead. So after researching that, i decided to give it a whirl.

What do you think?

I couldn't be more happy with the final result. Here is how I did it.

I cleaned the brick wall really good with TSP. 

Mixed 2 parts white latex paint with 1 part water. 

Using my purdy brush, I concentrated on small sections, about 10 bricks at a time.

After dipping brush in the paint, I would wipe most of it off. 

Brushed light coats over the sections. (you can always add more so start light).

Then took a wet rag and sponged the area lightly to get the final effect. 

To Paint or Not to Paint?!?

I need some help on this one. There is a small portion of exposed brick in my living area. This used to be part of the outside of the home before they added on the living room some years ago. I've been considering painting it white since I bought the house a few years ago because the brick color doesn't really fit into my cottage color scheme I'm trying to achieve but I haven't quite been able to pull the trigger. I think I'm afraid of messing it up and it looking terrible. Take a look and give me some feedback. Keep in mind that I'm going to paint all of my walls antique white in the near future and I'm planning to change out the stair railing at some point as well...just not sure quite what yet. 

Paint or leave it alone?