Fireplace Makeover

I never realized how drab our fireplace was. I mean, I knew it wasn't the prettiest thing but didn't know it was just plain ugly. Tanner & I got this wonderful idea around Christmas time to fix up our house. We even had a contractor come out to get prices on add ons, bathroom updates, etc. In the meantime, we thought we would update the fireplace since that was simple to do.

Of course Pinterest is a big reason...I came across this picture and thought it was a lot like our fireplace. Orange/red brick with the old wood and brass fireplace trim

Our before picture

So we decided on what better day that our Anniversary to start this little project. We got all the supplies and then once the kids were asleep we got to work. First up was white washing the brick. Very easy project. You basically mix white paint with water. You take a large paint brush and put it over the brick and use a wrag to wipe off the excess paint. Once it was all on it was a little too white for us. It was still wet enough to go back over it with a wrap to wipe more off.

Once we wiped it several times we moved onto painting the brass trim. We used the heat resistant rustoleum. I wish I would have taken a picture of the cacoon we made to keep the fumes inside the small area but didn't. Tanner came out a different color ;)

We had also put one coat of paint onto the mantle. I wasn't a fan. The color came out funky and didn't quite match the fireplace trim. The brick was also still too white.

So after a few scrubs and 2 more paint coats on the mantle we are done!! I am still looking for new decor for the mantle...I have had this stuff forever.

What do you think? You like?