Wednesday, February 8, 2012

New House: Project Fireplace


For those of you who don't know, we recently purchase a new home that i am absolutely thrilled about. Its a 4 level backsplit, so despite its small appearance in the photo there is more than enough room for all of us to grow. All 9 of us! 5 people, 4 pets to be exact.
The house is a cosmetic fixer upper. Structurally the house is sound but the 80's carpet, and melamine kitchen cabinets will slowly but surely have to go. One of the first projects I decided to tackle was the dated fireplace. I was so excited because I've been gathering ideas for fireplace decor long before I ever had one. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, no question about it...white! The bricks before were a dusty rose colour which i'm sure looked lovely with the matching dusty rose carpet we need to tackle soon. The insert was a dark brown and brass. Now I heard brass was coming back with a vengeance (house and home january edition) but the brass fireplace accents had to go as well.
If you are thinking about painting your bricks white too, let me give you a warning that I didn't really listen to. Bricks soak up paint like crazy, get yourself a gallon of good primer and be prepared that it may take a while. I'll be honest, I hated the priming and quit, handed over the job to my hubby. I added the much easier to apply coloured latex paint in a pearl finish. White down OC-131 by benjamin moore. I love this colour, I also have used it on my kitchen cabinets at our last place. Its just a touch warmer than the trim white. The fireplace insert we spray painted with a black paint typically used on bbq's so its good for high heat. And voila! I added a few off white ceramic pitchers from my collection and our "Family Rules" and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out! What do you think?

2 comments:

  1. Tammy that is an amazing transformation! You certainly have talent! So happy for you. We miss you at Ryerson!

    Have a good weekend,

    Dana, Scott & Jessica

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  2. Thanks Dana! I miss you guys too :) Hope to see you guys soon...in only a few months I'll be back to work!

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