I realize I haven’t shared many creative endeavors here on the blog in a while.  That is, any that are mine and mine alone.  Yes, our house is still torn up in several places and most of the efforts are going into what has become the longest kitchen renovation in the history of the world.  C’mon, folks!  Try and top it!  Leave your comments, be honest, and let me know how long your kitchen makeover took.  It’s coming along, but we do get weary at times.  However, there is only one of Smuffy and everything is hand-crafted in this project, so on we march toward the finish line in our tortoise-like fashion.

In the middle of it all, I decided that if I had to look at our fireplace one more minute I might just scream.  I’d passed the grumbling and sneering phase long ago.  Built in 1950, our home, for which we are grateful in many ways, was given a fake fireplace from the start.  Sturdy and solid brick with a nice oak mantle, it stands tall and proud and just a shade wonky which is better than many other things in our house which are wonky in the extreme.  After living here and working on the house for decades, we’ve come to the conclusion (with no offense intended) that our house had to have been built by someone who, being a certified nitwit on his best days, practiced up for his future career as a builder by whamming away on his first project (our house) with a dull axe during bouts of extreme drunkenness.

Many are the projects we have undertaken and pushed through to the end with heavy sighs, but the fireplace has stood just as its maker intended, since 1950.

Then, as happens to so many of us, I saw a photo on Pinterest at acottagegirl.com.  I love Cindy’s ideas on her blog. I’d never really known what I wanted to do to the fireplace till I saw her fireplace photo.  It filled me with that feeling that can only be described as “Oh, yeah!”

Then came the research.  I had to know how to get the look without making some mistake I’d be sorry for.  Here’s what I did and a little bit about how I did it.  I hope you enjoy the results. I’m very happy with the outcome.  The before photo is in Spring 2020 when I hadn’t much desire or inspiration to decorate and the after is, as you can see, decorated for fall.  I’m not quite finished tweaking it for Christmas just yet.

I had a long talk with an experienced paint man at Home Depot who recommended a good masonry primer.  After applying this, I applied a Behr paint in a Magnolia color called “Lit Candles”.  Then, I got pretty jittery about how to apply the darker color and get it to look right.  I ended up choosing a Behr paint, “Armadillo” , in a satin finish and mixed it, one part paint to four parts faux glaze.  I only had to buy a sample jar of the paint and I had the glaze on hand. I applied this with a sea sponge in a horizontal swiping/dabbing motion and then, with a wet rag, removed as much paint/glaze as I could from the mortar between the bricks.  It was a bit like being way too close to your Monet while painting, but each time I stood back and took in the effect, I grew a little more confident that I wasn’t creating a total disaster.

The dark accent wall behind the fireplace, along with the rest of the room, has now been painted in Valspar’s “Milk Toast” from Lowe’s and I’m liking it better and better every day. It went on like a dream in one coat over a special primer called “PPG Gripper” from Home Depot, recommended to me by their helpful paint guy as something I could put straight over my old faux-finished glazed walls without having to sand them. God bless this man!

I’m pressing the pause button on all home updates other than the kitchen until after the holidays.  I’ll take progress on that room any time I can get it!

So, dear readers, show me your fireplaces and any other fun updates you’ve been doing lately.  I value your ideas because I need to make changes in several rooms.

You can check out some of my other creative projects, including writing, wood burning, decorating, sewing, re-purposing and restoration by exploring my Create! page.