Light it Up

With the new furniture on order, I knew something had to be done about this fireplace. It's a huge eyesore and a focal point of the room. I've been cursing this behemoth for the last five years, and researching how to fix it for nearly as long. Sal told me to do whatever, and my mom was a proponent for leaving it as it was.

We talked to someone about demolishing it, but not only is that an expensive option, it could lead to even bigger and more expensive structural issues. I had a carpenter give us a quote to build a surround, and it was over $5000. That just seemed outrageous, and a surround wouldn't change the stone. I discovered a white washing technique, but knew if I went that route, there would be no going back, and I might hate it just as much.

We had tossed the old screen, and spent a couple hundred dollars on new doors which was an improvement, but again, it's the pink stone that was at the root of my issues.

removing the failed whitewashing 

I'm not kidding when I say that I would tell Sal every day how much I hated that fireplace.

Finally, with new furniture on order, I settled on the white washing option. Depending on which blog I read, some said use a flat paint and others suggested chalk paint. Chalk paint sounded even more intimidating so I opted for just going with a white paint in a flat finish.

We ran to Home Depot where I spent $6.50 on supplies and paint, and came home to try it out. It wasn't working as I envisioned it would. If anything, the whitewash enhanced the colors of the stone, making them even more pink and even more gray. It was awful. Fortunately I had started on a small area, and was able to mostly wipe off the mistake (shown).

I sat back and stared at the fireplace.

I sent an email off to a company in Pittsburgh about building a wood mantle, a box or skirt, to cover the existing mantle. This didn't fix the stone issue, but I figured a brown mantle would be an improvement. Then, I realized I could just paint it brown, and the hearth too. That's when I decided to go for broke and go all in with the chalk paint method.

I ran back to Home Depot to pick up the necessary supplies. Another $18 later and I was set.

I started painting out the mantle; that was less scary to me. I loved how it looked. I had a little confidence at that point, and started the chalk. It took me a brick or two to grasp the technique, but I absolutely LOVE how it turned out.

Now I walk through the living room and comment how I awesome the fireplace looks. I should have committed years ago.

(As it turned out I needed another small container, sample size, of brown paint, so that required yet another trip and another $3 and a small paint roller. All in all, I estimate that we have $40 into this project, including the mistake supplies.)