The Fireplace Makeover is Complete!

You probably didn't know it wasn't complete.  I wasn't entirely sure myself.  But now I am entirely sure that it is complete.  And it's gorgeous.  If I do say so myself.

I'd been pondering for a while whether I should paint it.  But that's kind of a scary thing to consider, because it's nearly impossible to UN-paint brick.  And there is an entire, quite vocal, population of brick enthusiasts who feel that anyone who might dare to suggest painting brick is the Anti-Christ.

But you know how I get when I start to hate something in my house.  (R fears this instant hatred, must change now, mind set will one day come to include him, but I assure him, and you, that it applies only to matters of decor.)  I'd come to hate the brick on my fireplace.

Then, we went to my aunt's house for Christmas.

Which seems unrelated, but it's not.

She had painted her fireplace.  And I walked in the door and was stunned by how much I loved it.  And I never hated her fireplace to begin with.  I was just completely in awe of how beautiful it was, how much it opened up the room, how it made the space look bigger and lighter and more modern.

I asked her a million questions about how she decided to do it, how she actually did it, how scared she was, etc...  And I decided it was a sign that I should do it.  I began reading everything I could online about how to paint a brick fireplace.  I went to every home improvement store in my town (which means I went to two) asking for advice.  The advice ranged from, "Use whatever paint you want.  It doesn't matter."  To, "We don't have any paint you can use for that, and I highly advise that you do not do it."

Which I took to mean, they really don't know.  And I live in a hick town, and my superior design sense frightens these poor people.

Anyway, here we go...

See?  Daisy is stunned by its gorgeousness.

So that you can feel the full effect of it's majesty, I feel I should remind you from whence we came.  Here is what the fireplace looked like when we bought the house:

Then we got rid of the hideous wood stove insert and put in nickel plated doors, special ordered from Lowes.

Then we bought a gas log, so we could have fire at the touch of a button, without the mess.  (I can't find a picture showing only that.)  Then we embarked upon the mantel project and ended up with this:

It was a vast improvement.  But I still felt that it wasn't really finished.  NOW, it's finished:

Fabulous, no?  I changed up a little of the decor in the room, and I'm way happier with how it all looks now.  I got rid of an old book shelf I'd had for maybe 15 years and bought this espresso bookcase from Target.  I actually didn't pay even that much for it.  It was on sale for $95, and I always use my Red Card and save another 5%, so I got it for like $90, and it's wonderful!  Five stars!  It looks much more expensive, and I'm really pleased with the quality.

And that red lantern on the hearth?  Why yes, it is a Partylite Garden Lantern. Yes, I spray painted it red.  And yes, many people who might even advocate brick painting might still send me straight to hell for spray painting Partylite.  In my defense, this particular piece came from a garage sale and was rusted or something when I got it.  Plus, it's just perfect in the room now.  So I feel justified.

Even Beavis approves of the new pillows (also from Target, and purchased on clearance.)

I have done a little more work to the opposite corner of the room, but I'm saving that for my Project 52 post.  I didn't count the fireplace project, because I actually did all that before 2011 drew to a close.

So, if you want to paint your own fireplace, here is what we did:

Use a stiff brush to clean any dust and loose material off the fireplace.  Some sites advocate soap and water or even harsh chemicals.  We didn't do that.  Just the stiff brush and a lot of vacuuming.  It was nasty.  I'm warning you.  We sneezed a lot.

Then use one coat of Kilz 2.  You'll have to use A LOT of it.  It took almost an entire gallon to do this.  We rolled it first, which honestly didn't do much.  You have to really scrub the primer and paint into the mortar and even into the little holes in the brick.  Use a cheap and/or old paintbrush, because you'll ruin it.  It took forever and my arm was killing me.

We waited a day, mostly because it was midnight and we were exhausted, before painting on the next coat.  I just used regular latex paint, semi-gloss.  I did buy a pretty high quality paint though, instead of my usual cheap Wal-mart paint.  And we just did one coat, but it was a seriously thick coat.

We didn't do the inside, because we have a metal thing in there anyway.  If you are going to paint the inside of the firebox, you probably should use the special, heat-resistant, fireplace or wood stove paint.

I chose white, because all the trim in my house is white, and I wanted the fireplace to stand out as an architectural focal point.  My aunt painted hers the same color as the walls, so that it blends in more.  In my opinion, it was such a huge job that I'm in no hurry to do it again.  And I do re-decorate a lot, so should I choose to change the color of my family room, I didn't want to have to re-paint the fireplace.

My final advice:
When it comes to decorating, you just have to do what makes YOU happy.  When I decided to throw caution, other people's opinions, and potential re-sale value to the wind, I decided to do it.  And I love it.