Brick walls offer lots of texture and architectural appeal. The problem is that brick is often reddish/orange in color, making it a bit outdated. If you have a brick wall that could use a facelift, sit back and enjoy this makeover from MMS Milk Paint Retailer, Tamara van den Brink.

A Taste of The Netherlands

Tamara is the owner of “De Tijd van Toen” - a lovely store based in the south western part of the Netherlands.

There isn’t an exact Dutch-to-English translation of her business name, but it’s close to the phrase "the good old days". Tamara chose this slogan because she feels that cozy living is timeless, and she has a love of vintage finds and days gone by.

Tamara’s shop is filled with all sorts of treasures from the good ‘ol days!

Can you spy some treasures you’d love to have from her store? We’ve got our eye on that enamel pitcher and the dough bowl behind it!

Don’t you love her MMS Milk Paint display?

Tamara always has creative ideas for using MMS Milk Paint, including whitewashing brick!

Entranceway Storage and Organization

If you’re like most people, your front entranceway can quickly become a cluttered mess of coats, boots, keys, bags, dog leashes, etc. Having an organizational system that works for your space will help keep the clutter at bay.

Tamara had hooks and shelving in place already, but she wanted to give her front entranceway a lighter feel.

Her solution?

Whitewash the brick walls with Farmhouse White!

Prepping the Walls

Before she got her paint ready, Tamara thoroughly vacuumed her walls to remove dirt, cobwebs, dust, etc. Think about how dirty your floors and walls get at the front of your home.

(Now that we think about it, ours could probably use a good vacuuming!)

Before you embark on any Milk Paint project, we recommend you always prep first. To read more about prepping before painting, check out this blog post.

Whitewash Recipe

To make a whitewash, Tamara took 5 parts Farmhouse White and mixed it with 6 parts water. If you want help with mixing our Milk Paint, check out this helpful YouTube video:

These ratios made Tamara’s batch of Farmhouse White thin so she could lighten the color of the bricks without completely covering them with paint. She wanted to see the nuances of the stone and mortar when she was finished, so a wash was a perfect solution!

Because our Milk Paint soaked in pretty fast (as it does on most porous surfaces), Tamara achieved the look she wanted with just 1 coat. If you try this on your walls, you may need more coats to get the look you want. The thinner your paint is, and the more water you add, the more translucent (aka see-through) your coverage will become.

Another fabulous MMSMP Retailer, Deb Cottle of Cottle & Gunn, went live on our Facebook page to demonstrate how the opacity of MMSMP changes as you add more water. Give it a watch here:

Lighter and Brighter

After whitewashing the brick walls and refinishing the wooden beams and bench, Tamara’s front entranceway was lighter and brighter!

Paint Is Your Wallet’s Best Friend!

Home improvement doesn't have to be crazy expensive and require extensive renovations. Painting what you already have is a quick and practical way to update the look of your space without breaking the bank. The intangible costs of time and patience are reasonable tradeoffs, wouldn’t you say?

Let’s Get Painting!

If you’re ready to embark on a Milk Paint makeover, you can purchase here on our website. For best pricing, shop with our fabulous retailers!