Stone fireplace makeover

BEFORE:

 This stone fireplace is a major focal point in our living room. Ever since we moved in I have wanted to do something with it because it is very rough and impossible to clean. Spiderwebs were always between the rocks it seemed and after a lot of scrubbing I still couldn't get the smoke stains off the rocks.

I read a lot about others who have painted fireplaces and most of them used a paint sprayer. I do not have a paint sprayer and I wasn't really willing to spend the money on one for this project. I bought some inexpensive brushes and took some primer I had from a previous project. I had to buy another can of primer, so in total I used about one and a half cans of primer for this project.

IN PROGRESS:

 I first primed the stones. This took a lot of work and my paintbrush was destroyed from painting the stones.

 I didn't prime part of the mantle because I was going to remove that part of the mantle.

 I painted the stone this gold color, in a semi gloss finish. I had some white trim paint left from painting my baseboards and used that to paint the mantle. The mantle was in three pieces and using a crow bar I removed the piece on either side of the middle.  Eventually my husband will cut the mantle down so that it is square at the ends rather then on an angle, but for now it works just fine.

AFTER:

Just about done!

My amazing husband built the bookshelf to fit inside the fireplace. I then used expanding foam and drywall putty to fill in the gaps around the bookshelf.  For those of you who are mortified by our enclosing the fireplace, we never use it so it was a bit of wasted space. Now my son can sit on the fireplace and in the baskets on the bottom of the bookshelf I have his trains and train tracks.

 

 

 

Some of our 4th of July decorations.

The fireplace is done, I just have to do some touch up on the wall paint from removing the mantle. I may also add a third basket to the bottom shelf of the bookshelf.

WOW! I'm so excited this project is done. We currently have our 4th of July decorations up, so I'm not sure what I will put above the mantle after this holiday is over, but we are enjoying our seasonal decorations for now. I may create a painting to have hanging up in between holidays.

BEFORE

AFTER