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AllwoodJennifer Allwood HomeAll PostsdecoratingFaux finishdo it yourself

Your fireplace is begging to be a focal point!

By December 2, 20136 Comments

 

Jas and me 024(Glaze over the original enameled fireplace)

 So are you decorating your fireplace for Christmas?

Maybe adding some stockings? Some garland?

Gazing into a roaring fireplace as the temps keep dropping?

 

20131019_120626(My fireplace, decorated for fall)

Well, I don’t know about you, but as soon as Christmas decorations have come down….my fireplace feels sooooo bare.  Totally naked! I am so glad it has a faux finish on it to keep it warm and interesting looking!

I thought I would give you all some ideas on faux finishes you could do, or have us do on your fireplaces to keep them the focal point in your room.  Sometimes people are hesitant to faux their walls. Well, then do something on the fireplace.  It’s only paint!!!!  Mine has been 4 different colors/finishes in the 10 years I have been in my home:

  1. First white.
  2. Then black with rubbed back edges (pictured below).
  3. Then a bronze metallic with a glaze.
  4. And now, a cream with a glaze (pic above).

 

The awesome thing about fauxing fireplaces is that you can easily change them if you tire of the finish quickly.  They are small projects, so easy on the budget and not horribly time consuming.  And you can have FUN with the finishes since they are in a specialty area of your home.

Here are just a few ideas for you to get your mind stirring. These are all finishes we have done in the last few years:

fireplace 007

This fireplace has a rust activated finish on it. It is on HOUZZ and takes alot of guts!!!

 

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Here we started with a smooth, white fireplace and we textured it, glazed it and added some soft gold highlights to the detailing.

 

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One of my favorite fireplace finishes and I had this in my home for several years.  It’s a bronze metallic paint with a dark chocolate metallic glaze. YUMMMMY.

 

091311 059

This fireplace was already stunning with the stone, but the stone was too light for our client.  So we added stains and glazes to deepen the stone color up.  Gorgeous!

 

092409 071

A concrete fireplace that was the color of a sidewalk when we started….very, very light.  We stained it and sealed it.  So much warmer!

 

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This is a fireplace in a client’s master bedroom. We used a specialty foil on it that has a pattern of bronze, gold and red.  Easy to do and big impact!

 

Karens 012

This fireplace started out white…..we made it look like wood.

 

Palmeter and Gadwood 011

Glazing on the protruding details instead of the recessed areas…

 

030907 059

We did some crackling on the flat panels of this fireplace.  Stunning in real life!

 

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Another light glaze over the builder’s enamel.

 

Pottery barn fireplace - cabinets

A distressed black that was on my fireplace years ago.

 

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We have been doing this finish a ton lately. Just a soft, light texture and a real light glaze.  Simple yet effective!

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And this one was an eye catcher.  We did a combo of walnut staining and texture with a caramel glaze.  So beautiful!

Ok, so I hope you are inspired.  If you are nervous about painting your fireplace, let me know.  I can direct you to a video.  I can offer you an online consultation.  I can hold your hand.

Just make it pretty!  You can do it!

 

Blessings,

Jennifer

 

6 Comments

  • pam mckenney says:

    Jennifer, Love your work a few years back you walked me through how to do a cream paint with a chocolate glaze on my kitchen island and we Love It !! I am considering doing a dark glaze or stain on the rest of my cabinets that are a honey oak color. You have shown some techniques on this that don’t require stripping could you please give me some more info on this ? I would love for them to have more of a dark walnut look. Thanks, Pam

  • deanna says:

    hi jennifer,
    thanx for sharing all the great ways to faux fireplaces! ur work is gorg! my fireplace mantel is currently a soft white. i’m thinking about re-doing it tho. i would like it to look like wood underneath a chippy cream paint. any suggestions on how i can achieve this would be greatly appreciated!

  • Cheri Gilstrap says:

    Ive painted my oak kitchen cabinets a beautiful cream & want to accent the panels & frames with a chocolate glaze. What product do you recommend?

  • Cheri Gilstrap says:

    What do you do with the generic gray rock so many fireplaces are made of? SO boring!!!

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