Wordless Wednesday #2 - Caption Our Photo

On Wednesdays all over the internet, bloggers post a photograph with no words to explain it on their blog. Hence the ‘wordless’ title. The idea is that the photo itself says so much that it doesn't need any description.

But, we want you to leave a comment and give us your best caption on this cozy brick fireplace photo. 

Home Stagers and Interior Decorators Will Love This Redo!

Just thought you might be interested in the pictures.  I think it turned out great and much better than just coating the fireplace with just paint. We used the twilight taupe brick paint color theme, it is a sandstone, tumbled marble look with taupe, beige and cream.

Interior designers and home stagers could really use this product in fixing up their staged homes. The two ladies I showed it too really liked the way the fireplace turned out as well and is taking photos to share with their clients.


Fireplace Products Used :
Brick Paint Kits
Fireplace Cleaner
Black Firebox Paint

Redecorating Around Your Fireplace

Your fireplace room provides a comfortable gathering place for a quiet evening alone or brunch with friends. With color, texture and accessories, you can decorate the room to include the fireplace without making it the sole design element. When considering decorating ideas, think about how the elements throughout the entire space combines to create an inviting fireplace room.

Start by choosing a focal point. While the fireplace dominates one wall, it need not be the center of attention. You might want to focus attention on the television, picture window or a framed work of art instead.

If your fireplace is the focal point, arrange a sofa or loveseat parallel to that fixture. Comfortable club chairs with ottomans flank the fireplace and create an intimate area of coziness and warmth. Additionally, the ottomans double as additional seating anywhere in the room.

Remember to include plenty of space for drinks or cards on game night. A coffee table in front of the sofa, end tables flanking the sofa or a separate bar area in the back of the room provide needed counter space.

With the furniture arranged, decorate the room according to your preferences and style. Incorporate color, texture and accessories as you create a physically inviting and visually pleasing room. Your first decision involves choosing a color palette. Consider the color of the fireplace then choose complementary colors for accessories.

If you don’t like the color of the fireplace, easily change it with a paint kit. A simple white fireplace is easy to incorporate into any design style when you use bright colored artwork, plants, area rugs and throw pillows. With a brick fireplace, incorporate rustic design elements. Hang canoe oars on the mantle or use wooden candle holders on the bookshelf. A stone fireplace accommodates shades of gray like charcoal, steel or pewter with warm accent colors.

No matter which color palette you choose, mix up the textures in the room to create visual appeal and flow. Soften the rough texture of a stone fireplace with smooth walls and flooring. Balance a smooth fireplace texture with a tiled mantle or a shag rug. Use combinations of textured materials like leather, vinyl, silk, cotton or marble, among others when you’re choosing furniture, hardware, décor and other design elements.

Flooring options make a great place to add texture. Sturdy and functional, flooring options also tie together your overall theme. Choose a floor with easy clean up, especially if you burn wood in your fireplace. Even cheap hardwood flooring makes a great choice because it’s easy to clean and available in a wide variety of colors and shades that match any design. Other flooring options include vinyl flooring, tile or carpeting. If you choose hardwood, add area rugs for color and comfort. For carpeting, consider purchasing a stain resistant finish that repels fireplace dirt.

Like the flooring, other elements of the room will be stationary. Design your room around these elements that may include windows, doors, bookshelves or a mantle. If the window is the focal point, capture attention when you use eye-catching colors for trim or large print in the window coverings. When decorating the mantle, follow the room’s color scheme and theme. Mount the television or a quilt or keep it clean for a simplistic design look.

If the bookshelves or columns are stationary and not the room’s focal point, minimize them if possible. Instead of packing them full of books or collectibles, simply place one or two elements on each shelf. Paint them a color that blends into the background. If the bookshelves are moveable, use them to flank the fireplace. Here, they reinforce the fireplace as the focal point and provide space to display collectibles and other décor elements like artwork, candles or pottery.

Add ambiance to your room by mounting a mirror on the mantle or on the wall that’s opposite of the fireplace. One large or several small mirrors reflect light and create a romantic ambiance.

In your fireplace room, your design preferences rule. Play by traditional home decorating rules or write your own rules. Whatever you choose, make sure the room is comfortable, inviting and ready for guests when you incorporate color, texture and accessories in your fireplace room.

Make Spring Cleaning your Fireplace Fun - Here's How

Spring is finally here. Fireplace season is done. But does that mean you should leave your fireplace unused? Not me! I love keeping my fireplace the centerpiece of my living room.  I love changing the mantel decor. Also a good cleaning out of all the soot and grime accumulated in the winter months. But I also believe that if I am going to make any new changes. Spring is the time to get it done. Here are a few suggestions and tips:

1. Knock off loose soot and grime from the inside of the firebox walls and flue. You can use a brush to gently sweep the walls of the firebox. Why not get some fresh firebox paint and spruce it up?

2. Sweep up all the ash with your fireplace tools and you can even get a brick cleaner for masonry style fireplaces.

3. Close the flue to prevent any drafts and to keep your firebox free from debris.

4. Decorate your fireplace with a beautiful fireplace glass door or screen and a new fireplace tool set.

5. In the event you really want a change and have a brick fireplace, take the time and check out your options. Matte finish brick color themed paint is an amazing way to totally change things before the cold months roll back around and you will be so glad you did. 

Your fireplace is beautiful way to express yourself and it can truly be a centerpiece in your home. So this spring, take the time and think and read about all your options and make your fireplace enjoyable all year round.

Reluctance to paint that brick fireplace?

I sent my friend’s in Kansas a new brick paint kit, one that I have used for the last few years. They were very pleased with the results and I wanted to share with you their photos and thoughts.  

“Everything turned out great!  My wife and I were a little reluctant to use paint on our fireplace.  The brick paint kit had everything in it and it was very easy to use.  We should have done this a long time ago. Our friends and family are extremely impressed and can’t believe we did it ourselves. We can’t wait to install the Heatilator Fireplace Glass Door that you recommended. The whole room already has a new feel to it. We will send you more pictures when it is complete. Thank you so much.”

Here is what I sent them:

Color Themed, Matte Finish, looks like brick paint kit with instructions.

Affordable Masonry & Prefab Fireplace Glass Doors with video.
For more fireplace ideas check here.

Saturday Link Up at Be different act normal 
Sunday Link Up at Craft Envy

This project was fun & the photos don't do it justice!

Our fireplace was 22 years old, huge, and very dated. The brown walls and ivory furniture looked out of place in the old fashioned room. The project was fun, and because of the size of the wall it took a little bit longer then the average person. We love it. The photos don't even do it justice. I can't look at a red brick fireplace anymore without wanting to "fix it".  

Here is the kit I used : Twilight Taupe a combination of taupe, tan, beige and cream. The color blends easily and resembles tumbled marble or natural sandstone. 

First I got rid of all dust, dirt, loose mortar, and soot on the brick to ensure that the base coat/sealer completely bonded with the brick.

You can try using soap and water or household cleaners, but I recommend this particular fireplace brick cleaner. It dissolved my tough creosote and ash residues and no dangerous acids. OH, and don't worry about stains on the brick they will be covered by the base coat/sealer.

After I taped off the fireplace, I painted on the base coat/sealer over all the brick and mortar using the paint brush in my kit and like I was painting a wall.

Then I used the small roller or sponge to apply color 1, followed by the glaze, color 2 and color 3, letting the paint dry between each step. The written instructions and DVD that came with my kit will show you exactly how and where to paint to make your work look like a professional did it.

Then I applied the clear matte finish after allowing the paint to dry completely.

Now, I have a masterpiece!

An Amazing new look on a previously painted brick fireplace

Color Theme: Twilight Taupe

Thank you very much for the amazing product that allowed us to renew our existing fireplace for a fraction of cost. It is used to be wall of white paint over the bricks and looked boring and ugly. 

Yes, it took me 5-6 hours and several layers to apply the base coat but it was well worth it. The second, third and fourth steps were easy and quick. I should mention that as I was applying coat after coat I liked how the fireplace was starting to change.  It worked like a magic. 

The last coat changed the look completely and gave us an amazingly looking new fireplace. Everybody who comes to our house can't believe that it is just several steps of painting and have to touch the bricks to prove it themselves.

Thank you for the amazing idea for the Brick-Paint Kit !

The Sickler Family

Related Articles:

Should I paint my brick fireplace?

Who would have thought painted brick could look this good?

Why paint a brick fireplace?

An Awe Inspiring Redo

I just completed the entire redo of our brick fireplace and surrounding wall.  
The wall is pretty large so it took my some time and a lot of elbow grease
but in the end it looks beautiful.

We chose Twilight Taupe and also painted the inside of the fireplace.  
I am glad we chose Brick-Anew instead of just painting the brick all one color.
The brick still has depth and texture and it is a one of a kind wall.
This has been money well spent. Thank you for a great
product!!

Nichole W

Huntersville, NC

Related Articles:

Change the look of your fireplace

More beautiful additions to the look of your fireplace

Get Fired Up about Home Improvements

Decorative vented gas logs

Painting Brick

Before & After - From drab to fab!

I Just wanted to send you a few photos of my before and after project with the Brick Anew Paint Kit. I can't believe the difference. I am so pleased with the results. I LOVE my new fireplace look and it has helped me to change the entire feel of the room/space. The color I chose was Misty Harbor. What a fabulous product and I would absolutely recommend it without hesitation.

Many many thanks,
Carla

Related Articles:
An Amazing Transformation
How to transform your home using good lighting
Fireplace Improvements: Add Value to your home

An Amazing Transformation!

It’s been almost a year since I used Brick Anew on my fireplace and have been busy with some additional remodeling, but wanted to show you the before and after photos.  I think it’s an amazing transformation!  Thanks for your great customer service and a wonderful product.

Sincerely,

Pat Billeter

Fireplace Reliance: When the Furnace Won't Do

With the Right Fireplace and a Good Sweater You Can Endure Anything

According to USA Today, there is now a trend whereby people abstain from using their furnaces, even in severely cold weather. Has anybody out there tried this? Is it a good idea? Or madness?

On the one hand, it makes my bones ache to imagine not running my furnace at all. On the other, it warms my heart to think about the fireplace regaining its rightful place as the family gathering place during those long winter months. I mean, when the mercury dips down below 40 degrees and you don't have any heat pumping up through your ducts, that trusty brick-and-mortar looks so doggone inviting it would bring the most reluctant teenager out of hiding.

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I want to try this at my house. I don't know that I'll make it that far, especially when my wife gets wind of my scheme, but it would be kind of cool (or no, very cool) to at least give it a shot.

I wonder, though, if I'm allowed to use the fireplace blower, or if that constitutes a primitive furnace? Mine certainly kicks out a lot of heat, which does kind of make it seem like cheating. Then again, I'm only competing with the cold weather and myself.

Dewey Light a Fire? Absolutely!

Is there anything more satisfying than reading by the fire?

If there's one thing I love almost as much as I love a good fire, it's a good book to read while I warm my toes. Many a morning, and many a late night I can be found in my favorite armchair, a hardback biography or paperback novel open on my lap, my stocking feet perched on the ottoman a couple yards from the hearth. The sound of crackling logs brings the words on the page that much more to life.

Of course, being such an avid reader, I'm also a big supporter of the public library. Sure, I buy my share of books at Barnes & Noble and on Amazon, and at least once a month I peruse the secondhand shoppes for out-of-print titles and good deals, but if it weren't for my local library I'd probably go bankrupt. When I hit the shelves I can sometimes pull down fifteen or twenty books in five minutes.

The only problem I've ever had with my library is the library itself -- in other words, the building. Oh, it's nice enough, with high ceilings, plate glass windows all the way up and enough computer stations to run the entire North American division of Google. My problem is that it isn't the kind of place I want to hang around and read after I've raided the shelves. Most of the time, I can't get home fast enough. After all, my armchair is waiting.

It makes you wonder why more libraries don't offer programs like they do in Marblehead, Massachusetts, where once a week the librarians fire up the hearth and invite patrons to sit back and relax, right there among the stacks. There's no picture in the article I found, but considering the town's name, I envision a classic marble fireplace, perhaps retrofitted with state-of-the-art fireplace doors to keep the sparks from jumping out and catching the collections on fire. It's a pretty good idea, don't you think? I mean, I wouldn't automatically trade in my favorite chair, but I can guarantee you I wouldn't be in as much of a hurry to get home.

Valentine's Day: Think Outside the Firebox

Sitting by the fire is romantic. But is it enough?

Not to scare you, guys, but Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. Websites are already posting Top Ten lists filled with suggestions for showering that certain someone with your affections. The Hallmark Store is doing record business. The candy aisle is still in pretty good shape at this point, but in about a week it will look like a gang of ten-year-olds came through on a sugar high. And that restaurant where you were planning to make reservations? You probably should have called yesterday.

Of course, if you’re here at the Fireplace Decorating blogspot, you probably don’t have much to worry about. Like most fireplace enthusiasts, you already know a thing or two about romance. How else do you explain the constantly flickering flames and the shadows on the wall? When it comes to setting the mood, you know the score.

But that doesn’t mean you’ve cornered the market on suave, fellas. As romantic as you might think it is to light the kindling and pour a couple glasses of bubbly—even if you head out back to chop your own wood and make sure the missus sees you splitting those logs from the living room window—you still might not be doing quite enough. After all, didn’t you try the same stunt last year? And the year before that?

Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t build a fire again this Valentines Day. I’m not saying you should lay off the champagne or the candy or the flowers. And if you somehow managed to get in under the buzzer, don’t cancel those reservations, either. I’m just saying, this year, maybe it’s time to go the extra mile. Maybe it’s time to get creative. Maybe it’s time to think outside the firebox.

How about making yourself handy for once? How about refinishing your wife’s antique rocker? Or re-glazing the living room windows? Or fixing the—

No, better yet, better still. Why not just do something about the fireplace itself? As of this afternoon, February 5, you still have nine days to get your act together.

So pick up some fireplace cleaner, some fireplace paint—maybe go all out with a brand new set of glass fireplace doors. If you’ve got a little extra time, paint that ugly old brick this next week so it’s ready for the big night.

What’s that? You can’t find that much time on such short notice? You’re a busy man? Hey, no sweat. Imagine how happy your wife will be when she sees you hard at work, right there in the living room, on Valentine’s Day itself. Get that paint on before dinner and while you may have to wait a couple days to light the next fire, her heart will melt just as fast, if not faster, than it would have before the raging inferno. Under the right circumstances, even watching paint dry can be romantic.

Thinking About Refacing? Or Resurfacing? Think Again...

"Hey, Mom? Why does Dad say you can't paint brick?"

An old friend of mine, Greg, called today with a question about fireplace refacing. “I’m thinking about going Southwestern,” he said. “Maybe sort of a Santa Fe stucco look, kind of like earth tones, sort of like adobe but not adobe, you know what I’m talking about?”

I wasn’t actually sure. I thought for a minute about his living room and how it was already furnished. “Your fireplace is brick,” I said. “Isn’t it?”

“Yeah, and I’m sick of it. The last guy who lived here must have burned his furniture in it or something. I’ve got soot stains almost to the ceiling.”

I laughed, but only because I’ve seen the exact same thing a thousand times. “Let me ask you a question,” I said. “Are you wanting to do a total room makeover, or are you just trying to cover up some stains? You just got a new sofa last spring, right?”

“Yeah, the wife picked it out. It’s sort of mid-century modern, I guess.”

“And the rest of the room—You have a lot of stainless steel and chrome. You’ve got a leather armchair, don’t you?”

“Yeah, why?’

“Nothing,” I said. “But I just wonder if you really want to do stucco. And so you know, what you’re talking about is resurfacing, not refacing.”

“There’s a difference?”

“Not a huge one—you see the terms used interchangeably—but technically refacing is when you put, say, stone over an existing hearth. When you put up stucco or plaster you’re resurfacing.”

“Huh,” he said. “And you don’t think it’s a good idea, do you?”

“It’s not necessarily a bad idea,” I said. “But in your case, I’m just not sure why you want to go to so much trouble. Why not clean the brick, see how that looks, and then, if you still can’t stand it, try painting it.”

There was a long pause. Then I heard my friend whisper something to his wife, Debbie. Finally, he handed her the phone. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she said. “I’ve been telling him we should paint for three weeks. And all he ever says is ‘Honey, you don’t paint brick.’ Have you heard that before?”

“More times than I can count,” I said. “And it’s total nonsense.”

“I knew it,” she said. “But I do have one more question. You think you could come by sometime this week and help us pick a color?”