There are LOTS of projects in our house that demand attention (pink master bath countertops, anyone??) But since we lack the cash needed to undertake a major makeover at this point, we’ve been focusing on small, high-impact projects. I have a dining room update coming that I’m totally excited to share… but for now, I present: The living room fireplace…
Here’s the before:
Yeah. It wasn’t super exciting. I like exposed brick — especially if we’re talking urban apartment. But in a suburban house built in the last 20 years, I feel like it’s just one more standard-builder feature. And I wanted to make ours a little bit different.
So I pulled off the mantel and gave it a few coats of paint. I actually did it in two steps, and the first one was definitely the most labor intensive. I used 2 pints of paint — actually less, since when I pulled something out of the back of my car, one of the pints opened up on the driveway. That was not my smoothest move. I fashioned a scoop out of tin foil and literally scooped it back into the can, getting paint pretty much everywhere. I saved as much as I could, and then hosed off the driveway for a good half hour. (*we do not live in California anymore. This would have a been a much tougher proposition if I was super wary about water usage!!) I scrubbed and hosed, and the spot came out…
But that’s not important right now. Back to the fireplace!
So I painted one coat of a nice beige neutral…not super exciting (see photo…)
This coat took the longest because the brick is so porous and it soaked up a ton of paint. Next, I sponged on a lighter color sparsely.
The lighter coat really brought out all the dips and crevices in the brick.
After that, I put the mantel back up and called it done! A one-evening project with a ton of impact!
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