Fireplaces are a natural focal point of a room. They provide character and texture and an anchor point for the emphasis of your room to rest. When we bought out house 3 years ago the previous owners had so much furniture crammed into the space, two sofas, an arm chair, custom bookcases along with the dark and heavy fireplace. Needless to say it was a bit overwhelming. To make this room our own I knew the simplest refresh would be a new paint job (and we ended up replacing the carpet and reorienting additional focal points, i.e. the tv but I won't get into all that now.)
THE BACKSTORY
We painted the walls and replaced the carpet when we moved in but I didn't touch the fireplace for a while. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. I looked into lime washing the brick, but the faux lime wash look just isn't for me, so eventually I pulled the trigger and painted it. What I really wanted was to rip the entire thing out and design what I really wanted...Isn't that what we all want! Since that wasn't realistic I went ahead and painted it.
PROGRESS
And EXHALE! So much better, right?! As much as I love me some exposed brick in a house, this was NOT pretty brick and it was dirty. With 2 young kids who love to play and sit on the hearth I just needed to seal that bad boy up. But because I was otherwise occupied I just stopped once the brick was painted. It was soooo much better that I just put the rest off for later. And eventually when that wasn't enough anymore I painted the mantle.
And again, I was satisfied but too busy to finish the last step, which was painting the lovely brass on the fireplace. So it sat for another year until recently being home more presented me with the opportunity to finish it!
Goodness it shouldn't have taken 3 years to finish.
So this clearly isn't a three-year project, unless you have a toddler to chase. I'm glad it's finally complete. Do you have a project that you just can't seem to finish? Have your own fireplace to paint? Keep reading for what I used to paint the Fireplace.
PREP + MATERIALS
Brick and Mantle Prep: I simply vacuumed it to get all the loose brick, dust and mortar off.
- Brick and mantle are primed with Zinsser Bulls Eye 123 Primer (1 coat)
- Brick and mantle are painted with RUST-OLEUM Painter's Touch Ultra Gloss White (2 coats)
Brass Detail Prep: vacuum dust + wipe with a wet rag + lightly scuff the glossy surface with super fine sandpaper so the new paint will stick.
- Fireplace insert is painted with RUST-OLEUM High Heat (2 coats)