You may not like the look of brickwork that was never intended to be seen.

There are often mortar squeeze outs and mortar on the brick face.

We gently wire brushed the brick in the kitchen and it looks really good, but
now to decide to go all the way down to the baseboards or not.

"We gently wire brushed the brick in the kitchen and it looks really good..."

I hope it was not a steel brush.

Using steel on brick transfers some metal to the brick surface and can result in rust stains developing.

You may not like the look of brickwork that was never intended to be seen.

I thought the brick chimney covered in plaster would look so rustically charming, I uncovered it. Then, to hide my mistake, I painted it.

Thanks all....but no we didn't use a wire brush, luckily. And so far it is charming, there is only 1 brick missing and the hole where there must have been the pipe for the wood/coal stove. Any ideas on the other side though about the baseboards?