Making Over the Fireplace
Out of all the interior things I’ve been doing this month, this makeover was one of my favourites. It’s so pleasing to see what a difference a change in colour makes to it! Ever since I viewed the house, I knew one thing I wanted to do was try and makeover the fireplace. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice style. But the dark wood was not doing it any favours. So literally a week after moving into our new house, I contacted the landlord and asked very nicely if they would mind me giving the fireplace a bit of TLC. Amazingly, she said yes, along with also painting the walls (more on that later). Within an hour of receiving the email confirming I could go ahead with the makeover, I had ordered the paint and was planning how to tackle this project…
If you’re looking at updating your fireplace but are afraid of the hassle, I’m hoping this post will give you the motivation to get your butt into gear and get your own makeover started.
THE BEFORE.
So this is the fireplace when we first moved in. I love the slate colour of the middle bit, but I hate that someone paired it with such a dark ugly wood. I also think that peach/ yellow colour of the walls did not help the situation at all. On the first inspection, the first thing I needed to do was sand down the varnish off it before I could even start painting it. So one Sunday, I headed to my local DIY store and got some sandpaper and got to work…
A few things to take into consideration when updating your fireplace and you get to the sanding stage. First, make sure you cover your nose and mouth with a facemask. Second, ventilation. After half an hour of pure sanding away, I suddenly became woozy and had no idea why. Guys, safety first. It’s a cliche for a reason.
THE DURING.
After a couple of hours of pure hard work sanding away… I was getting nowhere. It looked like the varnish hadn’t budged and I was over this process. Taking to the internet, I found the lazy girl solution. Turns out if you get an oil-based primer, you do not need to sand down the wood first. Perfect for if you’re updating your fireplace and not wanting to put too much effort into it. The one we got was Johnstone’s from our village DIY store and it was perfect for the job. Two coats and the fireplace was ready to paint!
Paint wise, I knew exactly which one I would go for. This gorgeous off-white from Dowsing & Reynolds. Firstly, let’s give some appreciation to the name- it’s right up my street. Secondly, I’ve had my eye on it for a long time and I’ve known that when I come to paint our home- I wanted to use this paint. I’ve not been able to find a nice matt paint, until now. It’s full of pigment and it’s just the perfect white that I wanted for the fireplace. Again, two coats and 24 hours waiting for it to dry, and the fireplace was ready to style. Photograph wise, it took a bit longer, I had to wait for Lee to paint the walls. But it was 100% worth the wait…
The after & reveal…
What a difference some paint makes! Honestly, it looks amazing! It looks so much clean, simple and oh-so chic. I feel the slate stands out so much more than it did with the dark wood. Though it took a while from start to finish, the makeover of the fireplace took a few days. It’s honestly worth the time and effort into updating your fireplace. The whole room feels uplifted and bright. And with us wanting to paint the walls dark, the room needed that pop of white.
It’s one of my favourite walls in the living room and I’m excited to decorate and style it more. I want to get a large mirror to bounce light off from the window. And of course, a few more trinkets for the mantle. Any excuse to get myself to Homesense. It also means I get to practice my interior-styling powers to work on a blog post on styling a mantle place.
Check out my other interior posts here on the blog.