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Okay, I admit it. It was my fault it took 10 years to finish our fireplace makeover. I was nervous about putting paint on brick. Fortunately, Vag is persistent—very persistent—and I finally relented. The whitewash looks beautiful and maintains the character of the brick.
Not counting the guitar and Japanese wood block print, this cost us around $100. You probably can’t create this fireplace look as cheaply as we did, but you can have fun trying. We got lucky at our local recycled building supplies yard and found some old timber with big enough dimensions to use for the mantel.
Anyway, the point is that you can completely transform the look of a tired fireplace with used lumber, a little paint, and elbow grease.
This is what we started with: a functional, 40-year-old red brick fireplace surrounded by painted wood paneling. Ugly, but lots of potential.
Four Steps to a Fireplace Makeover
While it took us 10 years to do all this, the actual work could have been accomplished in a weekend, so go for it. The makeover boils down to 4 simple steps:
Step 1: Side Accent Panels
We painted an 18-inch (46 cm) wide stripe on each side of the fireplace, and defined the space with a vertical piece of LWM 266 lattice molding.
Paint: Behr Premium Plus Interior Satin Enamel. Color: Dark Ash. [Shop here]
Total cost: $25
Step 2: Clean and Whitewash Brick
Cleaning and whitewashing the brick. Dick was nervous about painting brick, but check out Vag’s post on how she did it.
Paint: Behr Premium Plus Interior Semi-Gloss Enamel. Color: Gallery White [Shop here]
Total cost: $15 (assuming you have cleaning supplies on hand)
Step 3: Build a Rustic Mantel from Reclaimed Wood
Building a rustic mantel from lumber we scavenged at our local recycled building materials yard. Check out the post here on how we built it.
Total cost: $10
Step 4: Decorate the Firebox
While our fireplace could be functional, we live in a mild climate and wood fires contribute to air pollution, so we don’t have the desire or the need to build fires. Because the inside of the fireplace was already naturally black from a few decades of fires, we had a ready made backdrop for a warm and comforting lightbox.
We saw the retaining wall brick used to display plants this way at one of our local home and garden stores. The brick cavities are perfect for holding 4-inch pots, making it easy to rotate in a fresh look whenever the plants get tired. Just make sure to choose muted lighting and good low-light houseplants. Your cost will vary depending on your choice of plant, ranging from about $10 to $30.
Shop rattan ball lights
Shop retaining wall brick
Total cost: about $40 (depending upon your choice of plants)
Other items shown in our fireplace makeover
Yamaha acoustic-electric guitar
More Details on This Project
Build a Rustic Mantel From Reclaimed Wood
Whitewashing the Old Brick Fireplace
