Easy Fireplace Mantel Facelift

Ever since having little Jessica outside of my body, I've had a lot more energy to do things around the house that I just didn't feel up to doing in the last trimester. And I'm getting so much done! Most of my projects are things I was staring at while lying around the house and taking it easy through all the Braxton-Hicks. This DIY was one of those.

I've never loved our fireplace surround and mantel, but figured that the taupe-colored paint over the stone was better than whatever color the natural stone used to be in our 1970s home (I'm thinking browns and oranges). Michael and I also think that it's way too big for the room, but until we can tear it down and eventually build a smaller wooden surround and mantel, and also put in a nicer gas insert, I thought a new coat of paint would be a good facelift!

I chose a white paint as I really prefer mantels to be white; it goes with whatever color is on the walls. As we want to eventually paint the walls in this room, the taupe-ish color on the stone would greatly limit what color we could put on the walls. We had some leftover white gloss from painting our baseboards. So, along with that and a leftover brush, I went to work. 

It took me about 3 days of baby Jessica's naptimes, a neckache, and a completely obliterated paintbrush later, and what a wonderful end result! It totally changes the feel of the room, and brightens up the space. I pretty much love it. And the price was right...free. The best kind of DIY project in my opinion!