home improvement.... a work in progress

February 6, 2010


i am adding some home improvements in order to join in the fun of link parties!

the fireplace before & after...

when we moved in, i was thrilled to have a fireplace.  but less than thrilled with the orangey-brown tones of the jagged rocks.  my original plan was to build a wood facade over the rock, but i needed to hire someone to do that and they are kind of funny about expecting to be paid.  so i decided to paint the rocks in the gray tones i would've picked. everyone thought i was crazy.  now they think i'm a genius!  i'm proud to say i did this project without the help of any men! (my sister may have painted 10-20 rocks)

before: 


don't you love the pea soup green walls!

during:
goodbye brass doors and vents! i painted them with a black high heat spray paint.  priming the stones was 
h o r r i b l e!
in fact it was so bad that i only did about 2/3rds.  

 
after:
once all the rocks were painted, i painted the mantle an off white.  then i sanded around all the edges and over some of the wood grain.  next i applied stain over the paint and wiped it off.  i ended up using a couple different colors of stain to get the right look.  
 







Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special

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27 comments

  1. I just linked over here from the shabby chic cottage. I can't believe the transformation on your fireplace. It looks AMAZING!

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  2. Holy cow girl....that looks awesome!!! You should be way proud of yourself.

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  3. Gorgeous! I am going to have to find some of that black spray paint for my own brass. Great job!

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  4. Wow !!! It looks Amazing! great job!!! ~Lezlee

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  5. Wow, what a change...that looks fabulous!

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  6. I came over from Metamorphosis Monday and I am SO glad I did! Holy Moley! This is awesome!

    I'm particularly interested in this project because several months ago we bought a house with a stone fireplace that looks frighteningly similar...right down to the orangey (and yellow) toned rocks...only it's probably twice as big as yours. Twice as big = twice as ugly. :(

    I love the gray so much better (and my carpet is gray) so these colors would work great for me. I'm confused 'tho. Did I read your tutorial right? You used stain on the rocks after they were primed?

    Would you mind emailing me with the colors you used on the rocks to achieve this dynamic transformation? Thanks!

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  7. Your painting looks fabulous! I am so very impressed w/ the transformation! Be very, very proud!

    CraftTeaLady (aka Gina)
    www.xanga.com/crafttealad

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  8. Wow! What a transformation! Love the new look. Great job :)

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  9. Wow! It really lightens up the room! Fabulous job! Thanks for linking!

    Andy
    Poppies at Play

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  10. WOW! That looks great! I would have never thought to do something like that.

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  11. You did an amazing job on your fireplace, it looks fantastic!

    Kat :)

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  12. Are you kidding me??? That is amazing!!!!

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  13. MY jaw dropped that was a genius transformation! I am so impressed that was a paint transformation! Really great job!

    I am so glad you stopped by to join our little the party, I hope to see you there again! We have them every Friday. (And we are now doing a recipe link up on Wednesday!)

    Cassity @ Remodelaholic

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  14. I have a Brick fireplace, that I would love to do something similar with. Could you give me a couple more details,like what you used for the mortar in between the rocks? And what color/type of paint you used for the actual rock? You did a fabulous job! Please email me (DAM03001@gmail.com)

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  15. FABULOUS! There are enough of us wanting more information on this that perhaps you could do a follow-up post? Great job!

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  16. thank you for the blog the information will help the home design and will also help wile shifting the home which will be the first iteams should load and move on.

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