Before picture of our old brass fireplace surround with painted brick and original 1950's wood built-in shelves.
My DIY Fireplace Project
My blood, sweat, and tears are in this diy old fireplace project. Literally. 😂💪🏻 I could not be more thrilled with the outcome though. 😍🔥Total cost to redo this fireplace was less than $100. It doesn't have to be expensive!! Eventually the floors will get done but for now I’m taking a break. 😉😉 #justcallmejoanna
First of all, let me say I'm just a Mama on a Mission. I work from home, take care of the kids, the house, etc etc. I am a very determined and somewhat crafty person - but by no means am I a professional decorator or carpenter. Please be sure to consult the appropriate people and take all safety precautions before doing any DIY project.
We fixer upper bought a home in August. I really can see a lot of potential in this home and it was right on budget so here we are. The first huge task was making the living room space more cozy. And let me tell you - it was not a welcoming place at all. It was old, outdated, and very dusty. It was time to roll up my sleeves and get to work.
And when I say work - I mean it. This project took several days, tears of frustration (and eventually happiness), and lots of determination. Be patient with your project. :)
First I painted all the walls and trim in the living room. If you don't already have to do this - great! You just saved yourself a day. :) Then I started painting the builtin wood shelves. These are original to the home and soaked up 4 coats of paint. I used classic bright white which we already had on hand. Honestly that is the most expensive part of this project. A gallon of paint is approximately $30. The original wood soaked up a ton of the paint which is why it needed so many coats. Of course, if you'd like to keep it original you can just clean up the wood or choose to stain them - it's up to you.
Then we went on to the next step which was how to paint the old brass fireplace. This went in 2 steps - the brick fireplace and the brass surround. For the brick it's super important to scrap and clean the fireplace with simple soap and water. If there's old paint, mortar, dirt, etc it's important to get that off. Also be sure to use drop cloths and cover anything that you don't want ruined - flooring, windows, furniture, etc. Prep work is important and sometimes the most timeconsuming!
To actually paint the brick fireplace we used a white hammered spray paint by Rustoleum. There are a ton of other helpful DIY whitewash fireplace blogs out there that would be alternative options. Seriously - go google it and that may be the way you want to do it. Basically you water down paint color of your choice, paint it on and then lightly wipe it away. I did NOT do it this way (but lots of them look super nice this way). I needed 4 cans of the hammered paint and literally spray painted the brick. I hope to add more pictures later.
The last part was how to paint the old brass fireplace surround. The first thing is you need to tape off and cover your fireplace that you just painted and anything else that's left to cover. Be patient and be careful! I purchased Rustoleum high heat black spray paint from Home Depot. I only needed one can and one coat. I used the glossy kind and it came out gorgeous.
I really do hope to add more before and after pictures of my inexpensive DIY fireplace project. This cost me less than $100 to do and it literally changed the whole look of our living room. If anything, the more "expensive" part is your time. I'm absolutely in love with how this came out and looking forward to more projects in the future.
First of all, let me say I'm just a Mama on a Mission. I work from home, take care of the kids, the house, etc etc. I am a very determined and somewhat crafty person - but by no means am I a professional decorator or carpenter. Please be sure to consult the appropriate people and take all safety precautions before doing any DIY project.
We fixer upper bought a home in August. I really can see a lot of potential in this home and it was right on budget so here we are. The first huge task was making the living room space more cozy. And let me tell you - it was not a welcoming place at all. It was old, outdated, and very dusty. It was time to roll up my sleeves and get to work.
And when I say work - I mean it. This project took several days, tears of frustration (and eventually happiness), and lots of determination. Be patient with your project. :)
First I painted all the walls and trim in the living room. If you don't already have to do this - great! You just saved yourself a day. :) Then I started painting the builtin wood shelves. These are original to the home and soaked up 4 coats of paint. I used classic bright white which we already had on hand. Honestly that is the most expensive part of this project. A gallon of paint is approximately $30. The original wood soaked up a ton of the paint which is why it needed so many coats. Of course, if you'd like to keep it original you can just clean up the wood or choose to stain them - it's up to you.
Then we went on to the next step which was how to paint the old brass fireplace. This went in 2 steps - the brick fireplace and the brass surround. For the brick it's super important to scrap and clean the fireplace with simple soap and water. If there's old paint, mortar, dirt, etc it's important to get that off. Also be sure to use drop cloths and cover anything that you don't want ruined - flooring, windows, furniture, etc. Prep work is important and sometimes the most timeconsuming!
To actually paint the brick fireplace we used a white hammered spray paint by Rustoleum. There are a ton of other helpful DIY whitewash fireplace blogs out there that would be alternative options. Seriously - go google it and that may be the way you want to do it. Basically you water down paint color of your choice, paint it on and then lightly wipe it away. I did NOT do it this way (but lots of them look super nice this way). I needed 4 cans of the hammered paint and literally spray painted the brick. I hope to add more pictures later.
The last part was how to paint the old brass fireplace surround. The first thing is you need to tape off and cover your fireplace that you just painted and anything else that's left to cover. Be patient and be careful! I purchased Rustoleum high heat black spray paint from Home Depot. I only needed one can and one coat. I used the glossy kind and it came out gorgeous.
I really do hope to add more before and after pictures of my inexpensive DIY fireplace project. This cost me less than $100 to do and it literally changed the whole look of our living room. If anything, the more "expensive" part is your time. I'm absolutely in love with how this came out and looking forward to more projects in the future.
RSS Feed
