FIREPLACE TRANSFORMATION

The next project after the stairs I tackled was the fireplace for our upstairs living room!

Because I wanted to go light and bright in the main areas, for this room I wanted a dark fireplace to help anchor the long, blank wall and give some character to the house. Long before we got the house, I had saved some images of dark fireplaces in lighter rooms which really inspired me.

Images sourced from Pinterest.

While I loved the ornate moulding details on these fireplaces, I know it ultimately does not quite suit the style of home we have. I did, however, want to emulate the matte look of a cast iron fireplace, so that made it pretty easy to determine I wanted to go dark.

After we knew we had the house, for most of October I scoured Facebook Marketplace for an electric fireplace and was lucky enough to find not one, but two! The first I had found was too small for the living room at 36” x 36” but at $60 I decided to pick up anyways because we have a sunroom with a shorter ceiling, and I thought it would work perfectly in there for cooler summer nights. It even came with the remote and user manual! In hindsight I’m glad I picked it up because we just found out the other week our existing gas fireplace in the basement, which we had used once before it stopped working, had been condemned 5 years ago and isn’t supposed to be used at all. Sigh. The smaller fireplace has a heater in it and has been doing the trick for now until we can find a replacement!

A few weeks later I found a larger fireplace on Facebook Marketplace at 47” x 44” for a couple hundred which had the right look I was going for. It was simple, but with some step detailing which I knew would look amazing when all painted. We arranged pick-up with the seller, and it was stored for a few weeks at my dad’s until we were able to move.

MATERIALS

• Drop Cloths

• Sanding Block

• Benjamin Moore Fresh Start High-Hiding All Purpose Primer

• Benjamin Moore REGAL® Select Interior Paint (Ulti-Matte Finish) in Iron Mountain 2134-30

• Small Artist’s Paintbrush

• Small Roller

While we were painting the top floor of our home that first week and had all the painting supplies out, I figured it was a good a time as any to cross this project off our list. I was torn between a few shades of black (trust me, there are WAY more than you think) and ultimately went with Iron Mountain 2134-30, described as “a warm gray with brown undertones*”, which was perfect as I didn’t want the colour to be too stark of a black.

*We’ll come back to this later.

Because the fireplace was in the garage when it got moved here, I decided it was best to sand it out there. I just used a standard sanding block to rough up the finish and gave it a quick wipe down before moving it into our spare room. We threw down a drop cloth and separated the actual electrical unit from the mantel to avoid getting paint on it. I applied a coat of primer, which I really should have tinted since I was going so dark, and it allowed the paint to adhere well to the surface.

Using a paint brush, I got the paint in all the nooks and crannies then went over the rest of the mantle with a small roller brush. This helped even out the paint and give it a nice, smooth finish. I ended up applying 3 coats to maximum coverage, allowing each coat to fully dry before applying the next. Now all that was left to do was re-install the fireplace unit and install!

And this is the final product!

I absolutely love how festive it looks with the garland!

The fireplace is simply sitting in the living room right now, but eventually we’d really like to install some sort of makeshift hearth, as the fireplace is currently covering half of a floor grate. We purposely mounted our TV a few inches higher for this very reason. There’s also a mess of cords in behind we need to clean up before we can get the fireplace more flush against the wall, but the Christmas tree does wonders to help obscure that view for now.

So, about the colour. I’ll be honest… I don’t love it. *facepalm*

I felt confident going with Iron Mountain because everyone and the internet said it was a warm grey. Especially when you look at this comparison graphic, it clearly looks warm. I’m not sure if there was an issue when the colour was mixed or if the lighting in this room has anything to do with it, but this fireplace is without a doubt a cool grey. It looks almost like Witching Hour. It actually looks really blue, which was the last thing I wanted. The fireplace looks nice, and anyone who has seen it has said the same, but it’s just not what I had in mind. As annoying as that is, I will most likely change the colour down the road to something warmer, or even to more of a darker black. What I do love is the ulti-matte finish I chose for the paint. It’s nearly as shine-free as a flat finish, with slightly more durability, and I think lends a more luxurious look to it than if I had gone with a higher gloss. I think I will go with this finish again when I choose a new colour. But for now, I think this fireplace really does the trick. We don't currently have any furniture for this room so it fills out the wall nicely and adds a nice punch of colour to an otherwise blank room.

So that’s it for today! I’ve already got some ideas swirling for this wall to help elevate the look even more, but that’s something to think about in the New Year. For now, it’s time to relax! I’m so excited to spend our first Christmas in our new home. It feels like a dream!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours.

Thanks for reading!