Christine October 10, 2014 30 Comments

I’ve dreamed of having a massive-brick fireplace, with a chunky wood mantel, ever since I was just a little girl. 

I mean really- what could be more romantic (or cozy), than a roaring fire on a cold fall/winter night?

Unfortunately, even though our home is old, it didn’t come with my ‘dream’ fireplace.  In fact-it didn’t come with one at all!!!

So,  we did the next best thing and bought an inexpensive electric fireplace!

I forgot to take a ‘before’ photo for the makeover, and this is the only one I could find!  

But you get the picture, right? (Pun intended) Isn’t it just a gem with all that orange laminate?

Alright-Alright-I’ll quit bashing our faux fireplace.  After all-it DID serve it’s purpose.  This ‘lovely’ piece has been an ‘extra’ heat source on those cold winter nights, plus it gave me a place to hang stockings for Christmas!!

But I hated it!  I mean I REALLY, REALLY, hated it!  Which is why I was doing the happy dance in early spring-when suddenly that old fireplace wouldn’t turn on anymore!

Sadly, before I could say, ‘new fireplace’, hubby had it working again! (UGH!)

So, whether I liked it or not-I was stuck with it!  But that didn’t mean I couldn’t ‘tweak’ it’s appearance just a bit!

Last weekend-I did just that!

What a difference-right?  And the best part is-it was SO easy!!!

For those of you who have been following for awhile-you know that I just recently started to use chalky paint when I made over the antique vanity for my office.  Of course, I was too conservative cheap to buy the paint, so I made my own by mixing baking soda with latex paint.  I really liked how the homemade chalky painted covered my vanity, and I decided I would use it again on the fireplace.

 But then I went to Michael’s to pick up some appliques to add a bit of character to the face of the fireplace-and I saw that they had Americana Chalky paint on sale!  In addition, I had a 40% off coupon, so I thought-‘what the heck’!  I’ll try this stuff that everyone’s been talking about and using for years!

Boy am I glad I did!!! This is what that sad piece of orange colored laminate looked like-after only ONE-very thin coat of paint!!!!  Once that coat dried-I lightly sanded the whole thing down, and rolled on another. (Ya-not liking the brush strokes at all folks!).  I let that coat dry over night-and after a quick sand the next morning, I gave it one more!

I wanted the arch in the center to stand out a bit-so I used some stain (sun bleached) that I had left over from my dining room table.  I applied a light coat over the paint-and let it sit for a minute or too, before wiping off the excess.  I ended up doing this two more times, to get the look I wanted.

Then it was time to add the appliques.  First I painted them with the chalky paint and let them dry.  Later, I applied a thin coat of wood glue and pressed them in place.

For something so easy-they sure do change up the look of the fireplace, don’t they?  I just love them!  I also love the aged effect that I got by rubbing on a bit of antique medium.

Once that dried, I put two coats of finishing wax on-and then it was time to decorate!!! Nothing fancy-just some branches that fell in our back yard.  An old window frame from the farm.  A candle with some pine cones-and a faux pumpkin.  Simple.

 

 

 

I love my new fireplace so much-that yesterday afternoon I took a break from work and decided to sit and have a cup of hot cocoa in front of it.  When I came back from the kitchen with hot water for the cocoa-this is what I found!!!!  I’m not sure which Mr. Bentley likes more.  The fireplace-my his blanket, or the marshmallows!!!  Needless to say-I pulled up a chair and we both enjoyed the fire!

I’ll be sharing with these amazing parties today-so stop on over and be inspired!!!

Blessings,

 Christine

 

30 thoughts on “A Fireplace Makeover!”

  5. Great job, C.D.! Your fireplace looks amazing! I found you through Happy House and Home and will be sharing this today on Facebook… so nice to "meet" you!

  8. Thank you so much, Pat! I'm so glad you stopped by for a visit, and I truly appreciate your sweet comment!!! Have a great rest of your day!

  14. Woot! Woot! Another faux fireplace biting the dust!!! I can't wait to see how it turns out, Maureen! Thank you so much for the sweet comment and for stopping by!!!

  20. Hello cute lady! This looks so amazing. Pinned. We couldn't think of anyone better to party with. We hope to see you tomorrow at 7 pm.
    Happy Sunday! Lou Lou Girls

  21. wow C.D., what a transformation! I love how it turned out. Wouldn't even know it was the same piece. That's one smart dog! lol! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

  22. Ha Ha! Yes indeed, Jann. Mr. Bentley is pretty smart (sneaky)! Thank you so much for the sweet comment, and for stopping by! Have a great week!

  24. Thank you, Suzan!! I've always wanted a real fireplace-but, since I can't have one, I'll settle for this one. It gives off a ton of heat too-so it helps with the heating bills in the winter!!!

  26. YIPPEE!!! Thank you so much Jann! I am truly honored to be called your friend-and I so appreciate the feature on your amazing blog!!! Blessings to you and yours!!!

  28. Thank you so much, Michele for the sweet comment! You are absolutely right! It was a perfect afternoon snuggling up next to the fire with that cute little guy! The cocoa was a HUGE bonus too!!!

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