Fireplace Facelift: Before & After

On Black Friday this year, I wasn't in those crazy lines at the stores. No, I was at home, in my grungy painting clothes, ready to transform my fireplace!  I had decided that before we got our Christmas tree this year I HAD to do it. The heavy dark fireplace was overpowering the space for too long and was really bugging me.

The brown painted brick had been coated with a shiny poly finish and I had wanted to change to something brighter and softer ever since we moved here almost two years ago. I had painted other rooms first and put this off because I had never painted a fireplace before and it looked like a tedious project. But it actually turned out to be much easier than I thought and it was finished less than a day!

Here's what it looked like before and what I did to update the look:

Because of the shiny surface on the brick, I decided to use the same floor primer and paint I had used on the floor for my Boys' Bedroom Makeover.  I only used a brush, not a roller which went on really smoothly. I loved color, called "historic white"and how it softened up the space. 

And here's what my fireplace and mantle looked like when I was done: 

I am so happy with this transformation I feel like I could stare at it all day. I love the clean, modern look and how my mantle, tree and garland pop against the lighter colored brick and floor. Good riddance to my ugly fireplace!

Linking up with these parties.