Project: Fireplace Transformation

One of the things we loved when we bought our home four years ago was that it had a wood-burning insert in the living room.  Having grown up with a two-story home heated in the winter by a wood-burning stove, I was excited about being able to do that with this house.

Unfortunately, I didn't take into account the fact that 1) no-burn days are rampant; 2) we can't grow or harvest our own firewood like my parents did; 3) this particular stove had a big big flue problem and filled the house with smoke when we tried to light it.  So in the four years we've lived here, we've used the stove about four times.

We repainted the walls/trim before moving in and above is the decor we've had for the last four years, sippy cup not usually included.

This summer, I did a lot of brainstorming.  What if, I mused, we got rid of that rather beastly stove which juts out into our living space?  What if we replaced it with something that turns on with a switch, is efficient, is flat, and isn't limited by burn days?  And what if I painted the brick white to clean up the look of the room?

So I researched gas inserts, efficient heating methods, and many pros and cons of painting brick.  (Turns out that's a topic with heated arguments on both sides, no pun intended.)  Meanwhile, I decided to repaint the wall above the mantel.  In another effort to calm the look of our busy living room, I had decided that it would be lovely to paint white the several walls of cedar planking we have.  Unfortunately, the photos I have don't really showcase the paneling that's above the mantel, but trust me, it's there.

Like my manicure?

I painted that wall at the same time I was doing the media nook in early August, and here's the first incarnation of its redecoration.

If you read my project post about transforming the buffet into an entertainment console, you will have noticed that this Thomas Kinkade rip-off painting always appeared over the buffet.  The painting was actually Jay's first anniversary gift to me and has had a prominent spot every place we've lived.  But when the buffet moved and a tall new-to-us hutch took its place, the painting had to move.  I thought this arrangement was pretty clever, if a little nontraditional.  However, when Mrs. FIL--who is an interior decorator--saw it, she commented, "That painting doesn't really go, does it.  Looks like you're trying to fit something too large in that space."  Hmm.

Back to the fireplace.  At first, Jay didn't even really want to talk about buying a gas insert.  But as I shared with him my findings on efficiency...and discovered a large rebate program in our area...and discovered a contractor offering some manufacturer rebates...and as Jay imagined the ease, beauty, and coziness of fires whenever we wanted them, he got excited and gave me the green light.

So in late September a couple guys came out to remove the beast and install a happy little gas insert!

Check out all that ash on top of the stove!  The flue basically had no draft, which explains why we had trouble keeping a fire going.

This was an exciting part. The two guys huffed and puffed getting that thing out of the house.

Venting hose goes into the chimney.

New insert ready to get hooked up!  Light as a feather compared to the old one.

Et voila!  After a couple hours we had our lovely new fireplace ready to go.  Too bad it was 90 degrees and too hot to run it.

Doesn't that look so much better?

After looking at the fireplace for a couple hours, I decided to pull the trigger: This brick was getting painted.  Not wasting any time, I spent the evening prepping the brick which took a whole lot of elbow grease and a whole lot of water.  You kinda have to wonder how often this brick had been cleaned since it was installed in the late '70s.  It certainly hadn't been cleaned during the last four years...

First I layed dropcloths on all the near surfaces, including the brand new insert.  Why didn't I paint before it was installed, you ask?  Because my paint job would have been destroyed by hauling out the old stove.  In a perfect world, I would have had a day between the old one coming out and the new one going in, but contractors don't really make appointments like that.

Then I scrubbed the whole thing down with a wire brush, dipping it in a mixture of warm water and liquid dish detergent.  I refilled the water bucket after about every two rows of bricks because the water turned so black.

Next, I rinsed down everything with clean water and a cloth.

I rinsed it twice.  And this is the color of the water after just a portion of the second rinse:

Eew.  But having spent a couple hours getting it to this point, I decided the paint would have to make up its own mind to stick regardless of any remaining soot residue.

Next morning after dropping the kids off at school, I taped off the insert and rolled a coat of primer over the brick.

One article I read suggested using masonry primer, but the hardware store I went to didn't carry it, so I just used the regular latex primer I had left over in a can from--ahem--painting our house four years ago.  Waste not want not!  I should have used a roller with 3/4" nap to get into all the nooks and crannies, but I was cheap and decided to use the less expensive 1/2".  That actually ended up being a lot more work though because I had to use a brush to cram primer into the gaps.

No wasting here.  I had not a drop too much of primer to finish the coat. Phew!

After the primer was on, I snuck in a quick bite to eat,

and then rushed to the hardware store to get a 3/4" nap roller for the paint.  No way did I want to do that whole brush thing again.  I grabbed the roller and drove straight from the store to the kids' school; upon my arrival to his classroom Z chided me, "Mom, I'm the last one here!  You're late!"  Yeah yeah.  I'm also covered in primer, kid.

Once back at home, I started the painting.  It took two coats of paint on top of the primer (Behr's "Gallery White" latex interior semigloss, in case your interested, the same as our trim) before it looked really covered.  In fact, after the first coat dried to the touch, it looked like I'd used a flat sheen because so much paint soaked into the porous brick.  It probably could have used a third coat, but I was done with all the cutting-in around edges.  I had also been none too careful painting the brick edges next to the wall, so I touched up those areas too.  (**Note** Mr. Internet gave me some tips on how to avoid getting paint onto the carpet next to the hearth.)

Taadaa!  And the very next day the weather temperature dropped temporarily, so I took advantage of it by opening all the windows and running the insert for four hours to cure its paint.  And even with all the windows open and fans running, our living room still heated up to 80 degrees.  Niiiiice.

First fire.  Yay!!  A month later and we still haven't had a second fire though.  Too darn warm around here.

Now all that was left was to decide on mantel decor.  I thought more about what Mrs. FIL had said about the painting and suddenly inspiration hit.  Remove the frame!  And while browsing at a local home store, I found some lovely green accent pieces, which Mrs. FIL later helped me combine with some I already had at home.

The result?

I love it sooooooooooooooo much!!  It lightens and freshens our entire living room.  And I can't wait for winter weather so that we can have easy, cosy, warm fires every day.

What a transformation, huh?

Before:

And after:

It sure makes me happy!  What do you think about painting brick?  Would you give up the crackle and snap of a wood fire for the convenience and efficiency of a gas insert?