Now that the living room walls were painted and the dining room slider was coming along (see I was keeping busy while Mace did he thing!) I couldn’t wait to get my hands brushes on the fireplace! Here’s a shot with only the trim updated to white. Time to bring it to this century!!
First up was priming the black brick.
I wanted to keep the brick neutral but stand out a little bit from the walls so the fireplace would be a focal point so I went with a deeper grey color that actually has a slightly blue cast to it (I selected it before I landed on the wall color). The white trim also helps to create a little dimension between the walls and the brick.
Next it was time to address the blue and red hearth which I was not in love with. I used left over charcoal chalk paint from the kitchen cabinet refresh and painted all the tiles. I didn’t tape them off and just took my time and wiped off anything I got on the grout (which could use a refresh too!). When I was half way done I was getting really excited about the results!
And once everything had two coats on it looked awesome!! It really looks like slate tiles because of the texture on them and now the charcoal color! Major improvement and gives the fireplace a totally new look!
I also did two coats of shellac to help seal and protect it which also gives it a little sheen instead of the chalky look of the paint. (Side note, after 6 months its holding up great!)
The fire screen also got a face lift which charcoal chalk paint (and sealed with shellac) so no more black and brass! Here’s a before shot.
And here’s the after of all the updated pieces of the fireplace together.
It took me about 5 days/nights to do this project in conjunction with other projects. I was able to put some finishing touches on the fireplace for the party I was having (in addition to getting the dining squared away) but I wasn’t able to complete the window treatments or wall art I planned on having done. So this was another DIY lesson of learning to recognize what we could actually get done by a deadline given delays we encountered (and DIY always takes longer than you think!), prioritizing projects, and not starting ones we couldn’t finish but being super proud of what projects we could FULLY complete! And putting the house back together and being able to enjoy the results of our hard work felt pretty awesome, especially in rooms we use on a daily basis!!
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