Old House Modern Fireplace Makeover + Office Update

I’ve been waiting to show you this makeover forever.

It’s one of my favorites to date and I know you will really enjoy it. This room is the front bedroom on our second floor and it’s currently my home office. Since we moved in I’ve been adding special touches to make it a comfortable place that’s all my own.

I shared the makeover plans for this room here, and how I customized my curtains and hung them in the bay window here. But those aren’t event half as exciting as the fireplace. Who has a fireplace in a bedroom, let alone a home office?! It’s pretty neat, so without further chit chat here is what I did to the fireplace to spruce it up:

• Removed the really old gas insert that we inherited when we moved in
• Cleaned the brick
• Primed and painted the brick
• Painted the wall above the mantel
• Framed and hung found art
• Got a disco ball – for fun, not at all a requirement for a fireplace makeover 🙂

This is what the fireplace looked like when we moved in. Unfortunately the house seems to have settled at some point and the bricks along the front of the fireplace are split in two places. So we have gaps in between them, but it’s not anything we plan to fix, nor would I even know how to. You can see them at the bottom of the second photo.

Painting this brick was a hard decision for me. Like the wood trim in our house that I’ll never paint, we uphold the integrity of our 114 year old abode and so I knew once I painted it, there would be no turning back.

I thought about ways to work with it and didn’t 100% hate the tan-ish color, but ultimately I decided to take a risk and paint it. Our downstairs fireplace was painted when we moved in, so I just went over it with a fresh coat of white. So I was fine with the fact that they’d both be updated from their original brick.

This is how the fireplace was for a year or so while I decided what to do with it. The paint color on the wall is Dolphin by Martha Stewart. Looking back I realize how many changes I made to this space just in furniture rearranging alone. But that’s how decorating always goes. It’s rare for me to put together a space and be totally done with it at one time.

Once I got the courage to know what I wanted to do to this space, I cleared things out and got started. This is a more natural light and accurate color of the paint.

I even Tweeted this picture of the first roll of primer. There’s no stopping now! The color was Martha Stewart pure white, which I’ve come to not be a fan of. The paint quality, not the color. Her paints have been discontinued, and sadly I didn’t find them to be a good quality, even though we used it in the kitchen, this office and on this fireplace. I actually painted this 3 years ago and it still feels sticky to the touch, plus the floor brick I painted has gotten heavily marked up.

The color above the fireplace is Shaker Gray by Benjamin Moore Regal Select in flat. I love using flat paint, it looks great on our old walls, plus it’s nice and modern looking which I love. You can see I was starting my gallery wall over on the left, that post is coming up soon.

The art was a piece I found at a local architectural salvage shop. It was taken out of a local hotel that was being torn down and I just loved the image on it. It’s so unique. So we made a frame, much like this method, and I spray painted it silver. The art itself is a little beat up, but that adds to the charm of it.

 

And here is how things ended up. The fire box is painted in Pencil Point by Behr.

Sometimes I do switch things up on the mantel or in the fire box, I like lighting the candles when I’m sitting in there doing homework at night.

But I tend to go back to the disco ball often. What do you think? Do you love the look as much as I do? Would you ever paint brick in your home?

Here is a before and after, look what a difference paint can make.

These colors are so bright and fresh and I love the way things all came together, from the risky rug, to the painted chair trim, to the painted garden stool and my found art on the wall.

Here is where things are with the office makeover:

• Paint the ceiling and walls
• Clean the fireplace More on that here
• Remove the old gas insert More on that here
• Paint the fireplace brick and accent wall above
• Get and customize curtains
• Arrange the furniture in a functional layout
• Get a rug More on that here
• Create a gallery wall and hang other art
• Wallpaper the bookshelves More on that here
• Organize and de-clutter everything

Next up I’ll show you the gallery wall I put together, which is just to the left of the mint chair.

Sources Rug – Overstock | Chair – Thrifted | Tall green vase – HomeGoods | Archer Art – Salvaged | Large Disco Ball – Save on Crafts

Come back tomorrow for the Festival of Fall where I’ll be showing you a fall DIY wall hanging that I’ve made.

 

Sharing with The Inspiration Board at Carolyn’s Homework | Awesome Things Tuesday at Cupcakes & Crowbars | Tutorials & Tips Link Party at Home Stories A to Z | That DIY Party at The DIY Showoff |