color my world

we bought our home almost seven years ago.  a 60's rambler that was quite outdated. we spent the first nine months we lived in our house painting every.single.surface of the first/main floor.  walls, trim, doors, cabinets.  everything.  we wanted it painted and fast.  why the mad rush you ask?  we were expecting our first and we knew time would be short once parenthood hit.  and we were right. after our son was born i don't think we touched a paint brush for 4 years.  not sure if it was in fact because of parenthood or because the sight of a paint brush after holding one for almost 9 months straight made me cringe.  after all, too much of anything is never a good thing, right?

fast forward to today. our house is basically the same colors they were after we first moved in.  those that know me well know that i need change.  often.  and those that know me well also know that when i want to change something, i change it.   (a trait that the mister loves most and likes least about me.)

so i wanted a change.  and i wanted to change our family room where we spend 95% of our time.  it was beginning to feel a bit, well, tired. it was beige (brick), on beige (wall), on beige (carpet).  i was puking beige.  so i began by fixating on the fireplace.  it is a large brick wall with a fairly unattractive brass fireplace door.   i knew i wanted to change the fireplace door.  i first looked into buying a new door, but it wasn't in the budget.  so next best thing?  paint.

the paint that can take the heat found at a fireplace store.  tried home depot first but they didn't have the silver paint that is heat resistant.











we took down the doors and put them outside.  when using this kind of paint you want a lot of ventilation.  (i also used a mask when spraying.)  taped the doors with plain ole paper so not to get paint on the glass.






before spraying i used steel wool to scratch up the surface a bit.  after sanding i wiped the doors from any dust.

then i was ready to spray away.....

finished!









after letting the door dry overnight we put the door back up..... always nice to have a helper with home projects!

voila!  a new(er) looking fireplace door!








but i needed to do more then change the fireplace door.  i started to think i wanted to change the brick.   paint it?  tile over it?  rock veneer?  but then it dawned on me.  it wasn't so much the brick that was driving me up the wall, it was the wall itself.  time put some color in my world.


before.....

........ after