Fireplace Makeover

Brick is a common staple used around fireplaces and is super durable. In a lot of older homes, one often finds darker brick. Today's design trends are leaning towards lighter neutral colors and minimalist styles. This type of makeover may be easier and quicker than you may think.

I recently helped one of my friends with giving their fireplace a makeover that brightened and modernized the room. 

Supplies I used for this project:

• Fusion TSP
• Tape
• Fusion Mineral Paint Algonquin
• inexpensive brush
• Fusion Mineral Paint White Picket Fence
• Fusion Mineral Paint Cathedral Taupe
• Fusion Mineral Paint Coal Black
• Fusion Mineral Paint Putty

STEP ONE: PREPPING THE FIREPLACE BRICK

In order for the paint to adhere to the brick properly it has to be cleaned. You need to brush the dust off the brick, and scrub with TSP. Then tape off the fireplace and the connecting walls.

STEP TWO: CREATING A BASE

In order to make the fireplace blend in with the room, I used a color that was very similar to the wall color. In this case, I went with Algonquin. To make a wash, you combine 1 part paint with 3 parts water. You use a wash to cover the brick color without losing the texture of the brick. Brush the entire fireplace with any type of inexpensive brush. Don’t use an expensive brush the brick will just chew it up. You will have areas that look a little blotchy because of overlapping which is fine. It just adds a bit of texture and shade differences.

STEP THREE: DRY BRUSHING

At this point I dry brushed White Picket Fence over different areas of the fireplace wall. This creates depth with light and dark areas.

STEP FOUR: ADDING COLORS

Now your brick is one color with white highlights. Time to add the colors, my favorite part! Choosing colors can be super stressful for a lot of people, but if you stay with colors that are similar it’s easy to blend them. Fusion Mineral Paint makes this easy. A lot of their colors go so well together. I pick a dark, medium and light!

STEP FIVE: ADDING THE COLOR PUTTY

The paint again is watered down. Not quite as much as the base color, more like 1 part paint to 2 parts water. Before you begin, it’s important to stand back and look at the wall and picture where you want to add color. I like to start at the top and work in sections. I never stay in the lines! I may paint all of one brick and half of another. Try to add a bit of color randomly all over the wall. The Putty is lighter than the Algonquin so it adds a layer of depth.

STEP SIX: ADDING CATHEDRAL TAUPE

Again stand back and look at your wall. Cathedral Taupe is even a bit lighter than Putty which adds another layer of depth. Water the paint down and begin adding the color next to the Putty so the difference is visible. Then randomly place the color where you need highlighting.

STEP SEVEN: DRY BRUSH AGAIN

Finally, after the brick is dry, randomly dry brush again with Picket Fence. If there are areas that turned out too dark, dry brushing will lighten them and even everything out. Because Fusion Mineral Paint has a built in top coat, you don’t have to worry about sealing it!

Voila!! You are finished with the brick.

STEP EIGHT: ACCESSORIES

The natural wood mantle didn’t stand out enough against the brick so I painted it with Coal Black to blend with the fireplace front. I then painted the silver mirror in Coal Black because it also blended too much with the brick. I painted the mirror and quickly rubbed the paint off the surface leaving the black in the background of the frame. They were perfect with the wall.