This is our house the day we closed five years ago. Very charming but a little hidden and dated. I had a vision in my head to bring it back to life. The house badly needed a new roof which was a huge expense so I decided I was going to tackle updating the exterior finish myself. It’s a ranch home. How hard could it be, right? I would hardly even need a ladder. (I never said I was sane. I’m just always looking to save a buck, willing to take a chance and put in the hard work.) You can see more about the exterior remodel of our home HERE.

I envisioned the look of German Schmear – light in color with touches of the natural brick showing through. However, mortar over brick is permanent. Once applied, it’s not coming off. What if it turned out awful? What would I do then? That was a risk I wasn’t willing to take. I’m not completely insane.

I knew I didn’t want to paint the brick. I read that regular painted brick could require a fresh coat every couple of years. That IS insane! And because paint doesn’t allow brick to breathe, when the paint cracks, it allows moisture to be trapped in the brick with no way to escape and causes brick deterioration over time.

After hours and hours of research, I came across a natural limewash product that almost seemed too good to be true – Romabio Limewash. It’s attributes included being environmentally friendly and chemical free, only requiring ONE coat, REMOVABLE for up to 5 days before becoming permanent with little to no maintenance needed for 10 to 20 YEARS. I was sold and ready to get started with nothing but research and eagerness on my side.

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I opted for Romabio Classico Limewash in the color Bianco White. This is what the product looks like straight from the bucket.

You simply add water and mix to a thick paint consistency. Romabio has very good, clear directions on their website explaining how to dilute and apply the mixture. To apply, you first spray a small area of brick with water using a garden hose. Then you literally just brush on the limewash with a large masonry brush. (Trust me, it’s worth the money to get this brush and that’s coming from a cheapskate.)

The mixture goes on opaque and dries to a solid, chalky finish. If you want the more distressed, exposed brick, German schmear look, about 10 minutes after applying the limewash, spray random areas with water to remove some of the limewash and expose a few bricks.

That’s all there is to the whole process. Another HUGE bonus, you don’t have to tape off anything. If you get the limewash on trim paint, windows or gutters, simply wipe off with soap and water. I’m telling you, this stuff is amazing! This post isn’t sponsored. Romabio doesn’t have any idea who I am. I just really love their product and wanted to share.

Here is the house four years ago after I painted the entirety completely by myself. I won’t say there weren’t moments when I doubted my own sanity but I knew I could do it and I got a great suntan in the process.

This is the distressed look I ended up with.

Here’s proof I really did apply every square inch myself.

I could end this post here and look like a pro that gets every project perfect on the first try. But that wouldn’t be the true story. I mess up…A LOT. While the final product on the house looked great, over the course of two years, some of the limewash faded away from rain and plant watering and the bottom of the house was discolored from dirt. It was no fault of the product. The cause was human error. There were several times I forgot to wet down the brick before applying the limewash. Those are the areas that washed away. And the dirt stained brick was caused from having to regrade our entire front and back yards to alleviate water in the basement. I did originally aim for an overall distressed, worn look but not quite as worn as it got over the course of three years.

Good thing is, practice makes perfect and I knew three years later that I could take a two-day weekend to re-limewash the entire house and do it correctly the second time. Okay, maybe I am just a touch insane. But when I put that much hard work into something, I want it to be as perfect as possible and I want it done right. Another awesome quality of the Romabio limewash is that there is no scraping or prep needed to re-apply even years later. Just start with a clean surface, wet it down and re-apply.

The second time around I went with solid white, no distressing. I loved both looks but I think the solid white makes the house pop even more. Below you can see the worn look after three years on the left and on the right you can see the freshly applied solid white coat.

I have zero regrets painting the house twice. I absolutely love how the vision in my head came to life in our newly refreshed seventies brick ranch. There is still much to do (more landscaping, replace front sidewalk and back patio, etc.) but for me, it just gets better and better each year. Below is a look at the house now, one year after the limewash re-application. It’s as crisp and white as the day it was applied with no washing away. It’s amazing how things work out when you follow the directions to a T.

Halloween 2021

Thanksgiving 2021

Flag Day / 4th of July 2022

Long story short, don’t be afraid to try something new, maybe even a little scary, and put in the hard work to bring to life your vision of what your house can be. With a little research and the will to try, you can make your house a place you love to come home to – even if it takes two tries.