Budget Friendly Fireplace Update

by Christine An

9 Materials

$500

8 Hours

Easy

Spruce up an outdated fireplace in less than a day and without spending a thousand dollars!

BEFORE

BEFORE

The gold/brass look and the red brick look outdated. And there was no decent mantle.

BEFORE

PAINTING THE BRICKS

I use white latex paint and mixed it in equal part with water.

Spray the brick with a little bit of water, and apply the paint.

Dab the painted brick with a sponge or cloth to get the "whitewash" look. I repeated this a couple of times until I got the coverage that I wanted

PAINTING THE FIREPLACE

Tape off the edges of the fireplace with paint tape. I use Rust-Oleum High Heat black paint and a sponge brush.

ADDING THE TRIM

I didn't want to remove the existing "trims" (too much work and I wanted to be able to do this by myself eg: one person job - and not ask my husband for help) so I measured it, went to Home Depot and shopped around for trims based on what would work with the measurement.

I bought a couple of cabinet trim molding and flat casing (about 7 inches wide) to extend the top of the fireplace. This would make it more functional and can hold photo frames, etc.

I found some solid pine corner block and fluted casing for the side of the fireplace.

I glued the trims and casings using a heavy duty glue, and held them in place with painter's paint until the glue is dry. To make it more secure, I used a brad nail gun to nail them in place.

Once all the trims are in place, I painted it a glossy white. I applied some caulk where the brick meets the trim to give it a finished look!

AFTER

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