DIY Painted Fireplace

When we were looking at our home one of the things that caught my eye was this beautiful fireplace from the 1950's, I love the character it added to the home. The previous owner painted the back part of the fireplace but didn't paint the floor bricks. I knew I wanted to paint the ASAP so we did it this past week. I think it made a huge difference! It looks so bright and fresh! Read below to get step by step instructions on how we painted our fireplace. 

Step 1 // Remove Fireplace Insert

If you have an old fireplace that has been converted to a gas insert you will need to remove any of the fixtures in the way of the area you are painting. We removed all the decorative pieces and propped up the actual "fireplace" so we were able to get a clean paint line in front of it. 

Step 2 // Clean

The second thing you should do is clean your fireplace. For this, I vacuumed up any loose dirt and then used a sponge and warm soapy water. After that was done I went back and vacuumed the surface again. Finally, I used a tack cloth to pick up anything else I had missed. You really need a clean surface for the paint to adhere to. 

Step 3 // Tape 

Tape off any areas surrounding your fireplace- this will make it much easier when the time comes to paint. We used a credit card to make sure the tape fully covered the gap between our hardwood floors and the bricks. 

Step 4 // Prime

I can't stress this step enough- you HAVE to prime the bricks- they are extremely pooris and will suck up all of your paint. By priming them you are sealing them and not only preventing the paint from soaking in but also sealing in any stains that may be on the bricks such as soot. We chose to go with Kilz Latex Multisurface Stain Blocker- Make sure you chose a primer meant for masonry. Using this will save you so much time as you won't need as many coats of paint. 

Step 5 // Paint

We wanted a bright white so we chose to go with Behr Interior Semi-Gloss in Ultra Pure White. The great thing about a Semi-Gloss is that it's very easy to clean- When you have a flat paint they tend to hold on to any dirt or marks whereas a semi-gloss allows you to wipe it right off. We applied the paint not only over the base bricks but also over the existing painted back bricks. White is a very hard color to match so it was easier to paint everything vs. trying to match the existing white. We did 3 coats on the base bricks and 2 over the existing painted bricks. At the end, I went in with a tiny paint brush to do any of the little areas. 

Step 6 // All Done! 

Remove your tape and you are all done! Overall this is a very easy project but we chose to spread it out over a few days- this allowed our coats of paint to fully dry and allowed us to determine what areas needed touch ups and such. 

We are so happy with how this project turned out! It was fairly easy and very inexpensive. I feel like it really brightened the space up! 

Supplies //

Paintbrush

Fine paint brush 

5-inch roller

Paint tray 

Paint- We used Bher in a semi-gloss finish

Primer- We used Kilz 

Painters tape

Tack cloth 

Hope you've enjoyed! Let me know if you have any questions. 

XO,

Nicholle