A Heavy Mantle No More

Once upon a time, there was a loudmouth, brassy fireplace that took over the whole family room. Remember this guy?

 A little high heat spray paint took down most of the gold, but I was still left with the built-in rim that spray paint just wasn't going to work for.

 

So I decided: I have de-glosser, primer, and paint from the windowsill project you saw last... Why not just make that gold trim part of the mantle? So after a little sand/de-gloss/prime/paint action on the gold, I landed here:

Then it was time to do a few minor touch ups - Like taking down some over-paint from the original contractor job on the mantle, and knocking out the last little bit of brassy gold on the fireplace's logo.

Nothing fancy - black Sharpie all the way!

 The next few hours (argh.) were spent following the same basic procedure on the mantle itself...

...But how totally worth it. Suddenly our pretty butter-colored walls look even more delicious, and the fireplace and mantle look fresh and somehow more architectural.

 It may not seem like a change until you see them side by side - Look how creamy and beige the original mantle color was compared to the new and improved!

I haven't yet painted the inside of the built-in shelves - Mulling over doing a fun color on the back wall to add a little pop... I'll keep you posted! But for now it's time to tackle, well, every other wooden surface in our home. I feel a couple more cans-o-paint comin' on.