Sharing all of our tips, tricks & ideas for a easy awesome fireplace makeover ideas from our farmhouse family room fireplace makeover with before & after pictures on a budget & 3 reasons why we decided to paint our fireplace black!
DIY Fireplace Makeover
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It seems funny that after 8 plus years of repainting our fireplaces white (see HERE, HERE & HERE), I have decided to give our family room fireplace a makeover by painting it black!
Supplies & Tools Needed for this Fireplace Makeover
- Crowbar & Hammer to Take Down Any Molding No Longer Needed
- Table Saw
- 1/4 inch 8 foot Sheet of Drywall
- Screws & drywall compound
- 1/4 inch MDF Molding
- Finish or Pin Nailer
- 1 quart of Sherwin Williams “Carbonized” Infinity Interior Satin Paint
- Paint Brush
- 1 (8 foot) length of Crown Molding from Lowes
Cost of our DIY Fireplace Makeover
The cost of our DIY fireplace makeover was cheap & definitely within the limits of anyone’s budget.
We were able to reuse & shrink our old fireplace mantel along with using some leftover materials like 1/4 inch MDF in the garage in order to keep this fireplace makeover inexpensive & on budget.
The cost breakdown is ($27 for a quart of paint, $16 for 1 sheet of 1/4inch drywall & $19 for crown molding = $62 for the total out of pocket cost we paid for this DIY fireplace makeover.
Tutorial of our DIY Fireplace Makeover
Although our family room Fireplace was nice, we felt it was time for a fireplace makeover!
Family Room Fireplace Before with White Paint & Deep Mantel
The former fireplace mantel we had was 6 inch deep in the front & sides & 5 feet high.
This fireplace mantel also limited the size of the TV we could have & was higher than we wanted it to be.
Because the fireplace mantel was head height, it’s depth was often in the way when walking around the fireplace as well as out or in our family room sliding doors.
Demoing the Old Fireplace Mantel
We demoed the old fireplace mantel & wood paneling behind it.
The wood paneling had been built out into the room & was taking up unnecessary space above the fireplace.
The wood paneling had also warped over time & never installed properly.
Jason took it down with a crowbar & hammer.
Refinishing the Fireplace Mantel
Rather than add more wood paneling back to the fireplace mantel, we added 1/4 inch drywall to cover any holes in the wall & give our fireplace makeover a more modern farmhouse look.
To give our fireplace mantel more character, we framed the perimeter of the area above the fireplace with MDF.
Jason cut down the old fireplace mantel in half to 3 inches using his table saw & only added it back to the front of the fireplace.
With a television & sound box on the fireplace mantel there is little room to hold anything else without it looking too cluttered.
We chose to eliminate the sides of the fireplace mantel because they only served as a dust magnet or a place to bump our heads.
We also chose to eliminate the baseboard trim as it also was only another place to collect dust & was also unnecessary with the wood behind it.
Jason added new beefier white crown molding to the top of the fireplace along with the entire perimeter of the farmhouse family room.
3 Reasons to Paint Your Fireplace Black for a Fireplace Makeover
By far the biggest bang for our buck on our DIY fireplace makeover was the black paint!
Our new black fireplace is STUNNING!!!
Our DIY fireplace makeover gives a classy & sophisticated look to our fireplace & family room.
The paint we used is Sherwin Williams Carbonized in Satin mixed at Lowes.
Reason ONE- Black Paint Blends in & Hides the TV & Wood Stove Firebox
The black paint we chose for this fireplace makeover really does a fantastic job hiding & blending in with the TV, sound box & our wood stove.
If you are looking for ways to minimize your TV, than painting your fireplace black just might be the answer!!!
Reason TWO – Hides the Fireplace Smoke Stains & Wood Knots from Pine Woodwork
No matter how many times I painted our family room fireplace white, the wood knots would eventually came through.
Our black fireplace makeover does a great job hiding those pine knots as well as the occasionally smoke stains that happen when starting a fire in our wood stove with wet wood or a bad draft.
Reason THREE – Black Paint on a Fireplace Looks Stunning
The black paint of our DIY fireplace makeover really does speak for itself & as I said earlier adds so much character, sophistication & modern farmhouse style to the family room of our farmhouse.
I hope this post answers any questions you have about a DIY fireplace makeover & inspires you to try a fireplace makeover with black paint at your home!
I will be back soon to share our entire family room makeover with you all!!!
by Tara Lehman
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