Fireplace Transformation!

Aren't you tired of looking at that ugly fireplace wall?


Over 2 years ago we moved into what we expect will be our "forever" home. The house was built in the early 80s and therefore had some early 80s flare. (eek!) One of the 80s style things in our home was the fireplace: large brick wall and hearth surrounding the fireplace with a traditional wood mantel and one of the lovely brass fireplace inserts.
This is what it looked like.... you know. You probably live with one too.

And just for a keeping it real moment... (The toys are usually everywhere...)

So you've probably had somebody somewhere in your life tell you that you should never paint brick. Now I get why, you can't unpaint it. (I assume that's why although my gut feeling is that you could probably paint brick and remove the paint by using some chemical like paint thinner or something and a steel brush although I can't imagine that being any fun at all!) 

Well I could hardly stand this big eye sore and well, quite frankly I had gotten to my breaking point. So I made a trip to Sherwin Williams where they pretty much know me by name. I decided to go with off-white paint for the brick, oil-rubbed bronze (spray) for the insert and a custom color paint for the mantel to match the oil-rubbed bronze color used on the insert and here's the final product...

And with pictures and decor...

I LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!

Here's Your Shopping List (for approximately 100 sq ft area):

1 Gallon Primer
1 Gallon Paint
1 Can Spray Paint -- the kind that is meant to stick to metal (for the insert)
1 Steel Brush
1 Sanding Block
1 Good Brush
1 10 Pack Sponge Brushes (Get a cheap pack at the Dollar Store)
1 Roll of Masking Tape or Painters Tape
1 Old Newspaper
*Optional 1 tube of caulk
A LOT of patience!

I think the total cost here was about $85. (We already had a good paint brush, sanding block and tape.)

Steps worth following... at least worth considering:

1.  If you have gaps between the brick and the sheet rock, caulk before you paint! 

2. Clean off the brick with your steel brush. (Dust it off with a dry brush, don't wet it!) You don't want to end up with dusty old loose grout in your primer and paint! 

3.  Remove the fireplace insert, take it outside, clean it, rough it up with sanding block, tape off the windows with tape & newspaper and spray nice even coat. Don't over do it or the paint will run!

4.  Paint a thick coat of primer on the bricks and grout. Use sponge brushes to get in the grout lines! (At the recommendation of the kind folks at Sherwin Williams) don't use a roller because the brick will pick the nap off and you will have lent stuck all over the fireplace.

This took more time than I anticipated. I actually spend about 15 hours on this project over 2 1/2 days. The first day was spent on prep work: caulking, dusting, painting insert and began priming. The second day finished priming and painted the brick. Day three: paint mantel and touch-up fireplace. 

It's totally been worth it. All of our family and friends swear it looks like our living room is larger simply because of this one project. It's much brighter in here and the only regret I have is that we didn't do this 2 years ago!