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I said it hundreds of times:

I would never paint over brick.

And then I did it and you know what? I totally do not hate it. In fact, I’d have to say it looks pretty darn impressive. Like 5-star-ski-lodge-in-a-pretentious-tourist-town-impressive. So yeah, I love it.

But before I show it here, you have to see what I was working with:

The ugly baby

Even the swag of greenery from Pottery Barn on the mantle is only lipstick on a pig.

To be honest, I would apologize for the fireplace every time someone came over to visit. Especially that insert with that brass. Yeah, people. Just ignore that fireplace. It doesn’t represent who I am or what I believe in at all. I’m stuck with it and I don’t know what to do with it.

Aside from it’s ugliness, the fireplace’s dark red brick just sucked the light out of the room. I wanted something that could brighten the room, but would keep it cozy.

I’ve lived in this home for almost 10 years now and for all those years I daydreamed about what I would do with the fireplace. Tile over it. Rip out the brick. Or just sheetrock right over it. I didn’t know what the right answer was. I scoured the HGTV website, watched carefully any and every DIY TV show where there was a fireplace remodel, and asked around. But I never could land on the right answer. With pretty much everything else in the home I knew what my vision was, but not this fireplace. Making a decision paralyzed me and it wasn’t until this year when I decided to rip out the carpet and put in hardwood laminate flooring I knew it was time to do something about the fireplace because I knew it would be messy and not having to deal with the floor would somehow make it easier, no?

First coat of paint on the fireplace

First coat of paint on the fireplace. My contractor used a sprayer.

As you can see I finally settled on painting. Why painting? Well, the guy who was making my mantle suggested it, and my contractor didn’t seem to wince when I suggested painting. So if two dudes say to go with painting who am I to argue?  Well, at least someone was making a decision if it wasn’t going to be me.

See? Already better even after two coats of paint.

See? Already better even after two coats of paint. (The green you see on the right wall is the new paint for the room. And check out that new floor! Sa-weeeet!)

My mantle friend I mentioned above is actually my friend, Kurt, who I’ve known for years. He had suggested about nine years ago that I needed a good mantle and that he could build it because he specialized in rough-hewned timber for homes.  (See? My friends all recognized how ugly the fireplace was and always offered suggestions on how to make it better. My fireplace has been crowd sourced, I suppose.) So even though it took nearly ten years to figure out exactly what I was going to do about that brick, I always knew I wanted to have this mantle:

My new yummy fireplace mantle.

My new yummy rough-hewned timber fireplace mantle.

Okay, it's coming together nicely.

Awwww, look at that. It’s coming together nicely.

Okay, fireplace painted. (Check!) Awesome mantle built and installed. (Check!) Now I needed a good gas log and fireplace screen.

Okay, so this was a pricey log, but oh so worth it. It's pretty, no? And that little box to the right is for the remote control.

Okay, so this was a pricey log, but oh so worth it. It’s pretty, no? And that little box to the right is for the remote control. No kidding! REMOTE CONTROL!

I waited two months for this Pottery Barn fireplace screen to come in.

I waited two months for this Pottery Barn fireplace screen to come in. Totally worth the wait, I’d say.

Here's a view up close. I love the scroll work. Plus it's flush to the fireplace opening so it keeps Willow the cat from exploring in the fireplace. Yeah, she does that. (Not anymore though!)

Here’s a view up close. I love the scroll work. Plus it’s flush to the fireplace opening so it keeps Willow the cat from exploring in the fireplace. Yeah, she does that. (Not anymore though!)

You can see why I’m happy about it. I love, Love, LOVE this fireplace now. As soon as I was done I found myself sitting and just staring at it. For hours.

So guys, I guess painting over brick isn’t such a bad idea.

A fireplace that makes you sigh.

A fireplace that makes you sigh.