A common feature of houses of a certain era seems to be the fireplace in the family room. Some families embrace the expanse of red brick and enjoy their winter nights in front of the fire. Others, not so much. But as this crafty family demonstrates, your fireplace doesn't have to dictate the style of your family room.
Bruno at ManMade bid a not so fond farewell to his Brady Bunch-inspired fireplace, which he had gamely tried to hide for years behind large toys and other objects. He and his wife used special heat-proof paint, a few bundles of birch logs and a some other extras to turn this corner of the room from a sore spot into a focal point. The tutorial is simple to follow and refreshing in the fact that it shows their missteps when it came to decorating the birch logs. It's nice to know that there are others out there whose grand visions do not always come to fruition.
Check out the process and full transformation over at ManMade.
(Images: Bruno/ManMade)
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:( I want to see what it looks like with the rest of the room!
Look like it might work but I hate before and after shots that are from different angles.
Agreed! silly to have a before and after that arent from the same angle. It makes me think of those trick mirrors at the circus one makes you skinny and the next makes you a shortie!
That's not a Before & After. That's a Before & oh, by the way....
Hope they never plan on using that fireplace again! No way that baby is staying white.
Point taken on the before and after shots, but when you are covering someone's blog post you use the pictures available to you, and that was the best one. @radioriot, they do not plan to use it as a fireplace.
That. Is. BEAUTIFUL!
I'm always a little bit annoyed when people paint the inside of a fireplace... I think its because we use ours as the primary heat source in our house. And painting the inside makes it virtually unusable.
Can't. Tell. Difference.
(without the rest of the room)
My mom and grandmother both painted their fireplaces white and the bricks stayed quite clean. You just have to make sure the flue is open when you light the fire.
And you can use high heat paint inside, so no reason that the fireplace would be rendered unusable by painting the inside.
More pictures please =) .. A close up doesn't do the remodel justice. I am currently painting my living room, which has a brick fireplace and painting over the natural color is intimidating. I'd love to see a better before and after. Thanks.