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Fireplace Before & After

Feb 14, 2012 ·

Our house was built in 1941.  To put things in perspective, FDR was president, World War II began for the US that year, and prohibition had just ended a short 8 years earlier.  Kind of crazy, right?!  Now fast forward seventy years later to us purchasing this home.  Additions and renovations had been made over the years, but we have still had our hands full of plenty of projects these last three months.    Aaron was in Indianapolis for the Superbowl a couple of weeks ago so I thought I would surprise him by tackling one of the things on the list.  (Naturally, I picked the one that only involved a can of paint from Sherwin-Williams and a trip to West Elm!)

 When we first saw our house, the family room looked like this:

Not bad... I actually had friends beg us to keep the yellow fireplace!  However, it definitely wasn't our personal aesthetic which is much more neutral and rustic.

So after a quick trip to the Sherwin-Williams by our house (literally less than a mile!), I came home and began by priming the fireplace.  A quick note to anyone who has never painted brick:  It is hard to get paint inside of all of the gritty grooves that are part of bricks texture and takes a lot more time than you might expect.  After the coat of primer, the all-white fireplace was already a sight for sore eyes!  Next came the color I had chosen-- the best way to describe it is to say that it is the color of a common mushroom-- both tan and gray elements kind of mixed together which is basically my home heaven!  This picture is halfway through one coat of the new paint.  I ended up doing two so that it was nice and solid and not splotchy.

Voila!  Painting is finished!  It was still lacking some accessories, though, so I while I was prepping for a shoot the next day I popped into West Elm to see what they had.  I had originally thought of doing shades of green with these recycled vases and jars, but ended up doing this small handful of matte and glazed white vases and votive holders (There are more on the bottom of the fireplace):

I also bought those two pieces of driftwood from West Elm, but may swap them out for this rustic modern set of andirons I ordered online.  Which do you like better?

So finally, taken from the same spot, here is my AFTER photo:

The room is definitely not finished, but that made a big difference, right?!

I had a coupon from Alt for a free gallon of paint at Sherwin-Williams and a store credit to West Elm, so technically the project only cost me $8 in new paintbrushes.  Not a bad deal if you ask me!

Be Bright via Rue Magazine »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Anginique says

    January 02, 2013 at 7:50 am

    This looks great. Can you tell me the name of that paint color you used from Sherwin-Williams? I have been looking all over for that right mix of tan and grey.

    Thanks

  2. Todd Jones says

    May 19, 2012 at 2:09 pm

    Wow, you guys did a fantastic job. I could tell you have an eye for decorating. Well done!

    Todd

  3. elise says

    February 25, 2012 at 8:01 am

    beautiful job! I can't wait to see your new place. It looks like it's really coming together. Aaron had set this up for me on my computer...I like to check on it occasionally to see what's up. Miss you! XO

  4. Padgett Hoke says

    February 15, 2012 at 3:04 pm

    WOW! It looks so much better, so glad you tackled that project! Keep the before and after's coming, they are so fun to read about!

    PS: A few of us have tickets to see the Ellen Show on Monday - any words of advice?! I am beyond excited! Like I told you, I would drop everything for a chance to work there, you lucky lady!

  5. DENISE. says

    February 15, 2012 at 12:26 pm

    WOW! I actually thought the yellow might be the finished product when I first opened it. But I love your color choice! Everything looks so clean and fresh yet ... so rich (as in depth, not that you're a Rockefeller!). And very comfy, too. So fun!

  6. mugs says

    February 15, 2012 at 9:57 am

    i miss the mac & cheese fireplace.

  7. mish says

    February 14, 2012 at 2:54 pm

    Definitely keep the drift wood. I like the contrast of the horizontal lines of the brick to the wild dance of the driftwood - almost imitating a fire. Plus, I like the color of the driftwood too with your freshly painted fireplace.

  8. Kendall says

    February 14, 2012 at 9:31 am

    Very pretty! Love your style!

  9. Sam says

    February 14, 2012 at 8:33 am

    We have a brick fireplace and have been toying with painting it. Right now the bricks are a sort of pinkish color that I don't love but I was afraid it would be too difficult to get the color even on it. Seeing this makes me think maybe it's doable...

    • Jen says

      March 23, 2012 at 8:28 am

      Definitely do-able! For me it took 1 very thick coat of primer plus two coats of paint but I was also working with a very bright first color. I would love to see how yours turns-out!

  10. Adventures in Dressmaking says

    February 14, 2012 at 7:49 am

    Wow, looks amazing! So classy and neutral.--um, and those sound like amazing coupons. Score!

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