Would You Paint Your Brick Fireplace a Bold Orange? We Did!

Rita and Cane
by Rita and Cane
There's nothing like the When we moved into our 70's split-entry, our family room fireplace had been painted a blah beige. We've decided to channel the spirit of the time in which our home was built and create a fun, colorful rec room. Starting with our orange fireplace...
This is what we saw on our first walk-through: A brown-and-beige man cave.
And this is what we've got now! We love what a few cans of orange paint have done for our family room.
We started by painting the walls grey, uncovering the concrete floors, and bringing in a comfy sectional and some bold colors.
We wanted the fireplace to fit in with the vibe set by our retro storage cabinet, art, and vinyl record player.
First we thought we'd go for an almost-campy multi-colored orange paint treatent...
...but we decided this was a little too bright and too cartoonish.
We decided that one color, in a deeper, richer tone would be better. Pantone's Marmalade was the final choice (color matched to Behr Ultra).
Then it was time to remove the door and clean. Ugh! A messy job.
Speaking of that door, we considered getting a new one--until we priced them. A few cans of high-heat spray paint in black was our solution to taming down the shiny brass door.
Then...the mortar. So many grooves. Our unpainted mortar sucked the paint in. We originally thought a quart would do the job, but we ended up buying 2.
We recommend a cheap brush for painting the mortar. You've got to really smush the paint in.
It was a lot of work, but we couldn't be happier with the result.
A little reminder of the Before...
...and here's an After of the same spot.
Rita and Cane
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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