I’m so excited to share today’s post with you! I have been wanting to complete this project in our house for probably about 6 years! That is a long time to wait and think about a project. Today I’m sharing my easy and dramatic fireplace makeover!
For those of you who have followed me for a little while, you have seen me post my mantel all decorated for this or that. I would usually end those posts with, “Wouldn’t it look just a little better if I painted the brick? Someday I will get to it.” My someday finally came!
I have to tell you that part of the reason I had put this project off for so long was that I thought it was going to be a royal pain and hard. The other part is that my husband didn’t want to help and do the work. Well, I finally just told him we were doing it and to get over his fit. That got that part of it done, but I still thought the actual makeover and painting was going to be really hard.
I started with my plain old brick fireplace. For where we live, this type of fireplace is very common. I currently live on the East Coast, but I was born and raised in the West and I am a West Coaster through and through. While tons of people here love this design….it isn’t me. Seeing as how we have now lived in this house the longest we have lived anywhere, it is time to make more changes to make the house reflect design that I love. The living room is on my current hit list! The fireplace was the first in a string of projects I have planned for this room.
I started the project with a trip to Lowe’s. We were expecting a snow storm. Most people were going to the grocery store for milk and bread. I was at Lowe’s getting supplies for a fireplace makeover! LOL!
The gentleman who helped me at Lowe’s was fantastic. His advice was spot on and made this project a breeze.
If you want to paint your fireplace you need a few things to make it easy and successful. Wearing your husbands ugly paint splattered sweat pants that are way too big for you is totally optional and not recommended if you are going to blog about it and let your 12-year-old take pictures of you in said sweat pants!
Start by taping off the area. We used Frog Tape
. I had recently read in Consumer Reports
that it is the best tape for painting. It did a great job. Because we were using a thick nap roller, we decided to cover a few of the surrounding areas with some plastic.
You will want to start by painting the entire surface with primer. (You can see in the picture above that when I went to make dinner, my husband thought he was done. Can you see what he missed?).
The best advice I have for you is the advice I was given at Lowe’s….use a 3/4″ nap roller. When painting a rough surface like brick, you will want a thicker nap to your roller. It will make the job really easy. You can use your regular brushes. You don’t need to buy throw away brushes. My husband and I thought we might need to due to the rough texture, but once again we followed the advice of the man I talked with at Lowe’s. He was right, using a regular brush for the cutting in worked just fine and didn’t ruin the brushes at all.
I totally thought we would need to paint two coats of primer and two coats of paint. We ended up painting one coat of primer. It coated so well and didn’t sink in like I thought it would that we went straight to the paint. We probably could have done one coat of paint, but I just wanted to be sure we were done and it was so quick and easy to paint that we went for the second coat.
I selected a Valspar color and got the slightly more expensive paint that is a paint and primer. Even though I covered the brick with primer first, I thought that spending $5 more would pay off in the end with great coverage. I was right.
I used Pale Bloom (7002-8) in a Satin finish, so it would clean up easy but not be all shiny like a gloss. Just like that, we were done. It took us less than 24 hours, including all the dry time, from start to everything back in place.
As you can see, I did this around Valentine’s Day. When I put everything back in place, it just seemed like something wasn’t quite right.
I realized that I really don’t like that same mirror now with the white fireplace. So it is gone. I’m envisioning making something there that is wood and on which I could put seasonal decor to make it pop or stand out. I’m sure I’ll show it to you when I make it.
Next on my living room hit list is that awful chair rail! I know some people just LOVE it and think it is such a horrendous idea that I get rid of it (my husband is one of them….but that is just cause he thinks it is going to be a lot of work). I really dislike it and I want it gone. I’ve already been to Lowe’s and gotten my advice and a new tool. It sounds crazy easy….so this weekend your going down chair rail…bye bye! I won’t leave you out. I’ll share the makeover along with tips and tricks for you, too!
So what do you think? Like or don’t like my fireplace makeover? I’d love to hear your painting tips and tricks….do tell. Leave a comment below so my other readers can benefit from your advice.
More House Decorating/Project Fun for You:
Great job, it looks so good! I am not a brick fan either…
I totally understand starting a major project in a snow storm!
Thanks, Morgane! I’m super happy with it and can’t wait to tackle a few more of the projects I have planned. I haven’t seen either of those posts yet…surprising given how many blogs I read…lol! Yes, projects during the snow are what are keeping us both sane this winter, right? 😉
Your before shot looks SO much like my fireplace down to the varigated brick and raised hearth~~the only exception being my mantel is just a solid piece of wood like a railroad tie. I hate it. I want to paint the brick and hubby does not. My walls are made of old heart pine. ACK! I’m going to show him your fireplace and say ‘see, honey, ours would teriffic painted like this!’ Yeah. Not holding my breath. But, I’m crossing my fingers he will see the light~~hehe! Love yours!
Yeah, I can’t imagine my fireplace with a railroad tie…that would drive me nuts. I don’t like the placement of the mantel on mine. It is really high and fairly out of proportion, but that is another project for another day. Well, if he doesn’t see the light, this really was an easy project, so you could always tackle it yourself. I totally would now that I know how easy it was. I also would have done it about 6 years ago…lol! Hope you get to have some fun with your fireplace really soon.
LOVE THIS. We did this to our brick fire place and I can’t tell you how much of a difference it made (mostly in my sanity):)
Thanks so much! Yes, painting and fixing the house totally helps make me more sane! Glad to know I’m not the only one. 😉
It looks beautiful! You did a great job, I love chair rail though so I’m with your hubs on that note but hey if we all liked the same thing life would be boring.
Thank you! Well…I will just ignore that you are on the side of my husband. I can put my fingers in my ears and sing a song really loud to pretend I didn’t hear you…I can be really mature when I need to be. LOL!
Your fireplace looks beautiful! It’s so amazing what a little coat of paint will do!
Yes, it sure is amazing what paint can do! Thank you for your sweet comment.
Amazing change! Love the makeover, it looks so different and it will give lots of light to the room!
Thank you! Yes, you are right. It does add lots of light to the room, which we need, especially in the summer when all the leaves are on the trees.
It was a great idea.
Looks great! The white is very fresh and clean looking, great job!
Thank you!
Great Job!! We did this (a very very long time ago) on a fireplace in our first place and here at this house. It makes a world of difference! Sometimes, the brick just isn’t cozy…..
Yeah, I had a mirror too, now I have a framed countryside painting….mirrors tend to just show people walking into a room, people don’t always like seeing themselves walking into a room….
Enjoy!
That looks so good! I grew up on the East coast and everyone had those fireplaces. I don’t like em’ either. I LOVE how bright and fresh it looks with your update. Beautiful! Glad it was a relatively easy project!
KC, that is an awesome change. It is so bright and light now. I bet you are loving it…you did a great job… Cathy
Thank you. I am loving it! It is a very welcome change with more to come…yay!
thanks for sharing this! first of all, it often seems projects like this are intimidating as heck (oh, the regret if i painted BRICK and hated it!), and secondly, days of being stuck inside are good for so much more than paper crafting. 🙂 i have some eyesore-spots in my house that although they aren’t fireplaces, deserve my courage and gumption to go for it and do some updating!
Yes, I get that feeling of wondering and being intimidated. Most of the time, for me, when I get over that and do the project, I’m super glad I did it and wonder what all my fuss was about. Does that happen for you as well? I hope you find the courage and gumption to tackle your projects. 🙂
I’ve painted every fireplace I’ve ever owned lol – so have to agree with your decision – this turned out gorgeous !!!
Beautiful transformation ! ( visiting from Under the table and dreaming )
Hugs,
Suzan
Thanks! I take it you don’t like brick fireplaces?! LOL! I’m really happy with the change, as I’m sure you were as well in your homes. I’m on to the next project now and I’m equally happy about it! 😀
Your fireplace turned out amazing. Well done.
It looks awesome! I’ve been wanting to do mine for a while and now you’ve inspired me. Did you wash the brick prior to painting?
Yay! So glad I could inspire someone. I did not wash the brick first. We did use a vacuum to get rid of dirt (and maybe a stray spider web or two, but let’s just keep that between you and me). Hope that helps. I’d love to see yours when you are done!
What a fabulous transformation – I love it! Thanks so much for linking this up to the Friday Frenzy!
Thank you! We are loving the change…and working on more change as I type!
I guess I am “out of date”! I love my brick fireplace. It just seems to fit! I would like to change my wall color and redesign my bookshelves though. Sounds like a great summer project!
What primer did you use for this?
We used Killz2. Hope that helps. Let me know if you have other questions.
Your fireplace makeover looks amazing! I love the transformation and that would totally be me as a snowstorm is coming my first thought would definetely be…so what project can we do while were stuck inside! lol Have a great week KC!
Thank you, Jullian! LOL! Glad to know others think about projects when a snow storm is coming as well. I hear we are supposed to get a colder and more snowy winter this year, so I guess I should get my snow storm project list ready to go. 😉 Hope your week is great as well!