Oak Mantel Makeover
May 18, 2010
We have some great friends named Tony and Mia, and our girls go to kindergarten together. Mia is a busy mother of three who runs her own salon four days a week. By the time she gets home from work, the last thing she wants to do is start a home improvement project.
What I love about Tony and Mia’s home is that every time you visit, you feel the warmth within, from the spice colors on the walls, to the rich and rustic wood pieces, to their doggie wagging her tail to greet you. Their house definitely feels like a ‘Home Sweet Home’ and that’s why we love to visit.
So when I was in her family room the other day, Mia asked me what to do with her oak fireplace surround. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to replace it or stain it, but she knew she didn’t care for the natural oak finish. The wood’s tone clashed with her dark wood floors and furniture, but overall it had really classic lines and was in great shape.
As I leaned in, I could swear I heard the mantel whisper, “Paint me, I beg you.” So I recommended we paint it white to coordinate with the trim and lighten up the wall. Plus, a white fireplace mantel is simply timeless. So in less than four hours, I gave her fireplace wall a fresh new look with just some primer, paint, and accessories.
Here’s Mia’s Before:
Here’s Mia’s After:
Splendid, right ?
The difference is all in the details !
Here were the three areas we needed to address:
Transforming Mia’s Fireplace:
I’ve refinished natural oak before – I restained and glazed my oak staircase banister last year to give it an espresso finish, and I’ve also primed and painted oak white.
Modernizing Mia’s mantel required one coat of primer and two coats of paint.
The first thing I did was tape off the mantel surround and then I gave it a coat of oil based primer.
I love Zinsser in the brown can because it coats oak pretty well, and fills in a lot of the grainy texture that’s the nature of this kind of wood.
Next, I tackled the brassy doors with some of Rustoleum’s high heat paint, the same paint I used on my fireplace last year.
Two coats of this formula, applied with a small paintbrush changed the look of the doors completely!
So long shiny brass trim.
Hello seamless black !
I primed her mantel on Friday, and then came back on Saturday to lightly sand it, then give the mantel two coats of paint. The white paint is ‘Swiss Coffee’ in semi-gloss, and her existing wall color is Benjamin Moore’s ‘Butternut Squash’.
I found Mia a new mirror at my latest source for inexpensive home decor, one that pulls in natural light from the opposite wall of windows.
Mia absolutely loves the look of her ‘new’ fireplace !
Don’t you love the spice colors in her home, and the contrast between the white and chocolate ? Now her granite tiles pull all her colors together, from the gorgeous ‘Butternut Squash’ paint on her walls, to the white fireplace mantle, to the black fireplace box.
From bland to grand, all with a little paint and accessories !
What about you, what’s on your list to refresh right now ?
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Tags: fireplace, oak mantle, painting oak
I absolutely love it, looks so much better! Now if only a coat of paint were enough to fix my mantle.
That looks 100% better! I have painted my brass already. Just need to paint the mantel! I just love your blog. Why have I not been following you? I don’t know! I’m getting on that right now!
I love it! 8 million times better. Great job.
Hi Jenny ! No, I didn’t sand the mantel first, I just primed it with a good bonding primer. I did lightly sand after the primer with a medium grade sanding pad, then finished it off with two coats of paint.
Katie – that’s Ben Moore’s ‘Swiss Coffee’, but it’s an industry color and most paint companies carry it, or at least have the formula.
And Laura, I have a great post for your mantel issue – check out this link by Layla:
http://www.theletteredcottage.net/2010/03/mantel-mania-part-one.html
Kate
another great update!
Amazing makeover, thanks for sharing.
A spectacular job! I have brass on my fireplace. Thanks for the tip about the high heat paint! I’ll give it a try!
Yvonne
Perfect! Are you ready to make a trip to Atlanta to redo mine now?
Fan-freaking-tastic job! Love the transformation. I had a brick mantle in my college house that I rented that I was DYING to paint…but the land lord wouldn’t let me…even though we were dating…some people just don’t get how great a painted mantle can be…
This all turned out great!! Everything looks so beautiful!! It is amazing what a new coat of paint can do to walls/fireplace, etc. Great job! I know she was thrilled. Love & blessings from NC!
So much honey oak and so little time. I need to start doing it now. I’ve been inspired by countless bloggers and seeing the fireplace just did me over. Cover stain here I come! Thanks!
What a difference! I just love paint.
im sure you receive awards daily, but i just gave you another on my blog. thanks for doing such amazing crafts over here!
Her wall colors look so much more saturated with the white mantel!!
You are a genius! Love it, love it, love it!
Fab, Mia’s lucky to have such a lovely friend!
I love it, it looks so much better and really brings out the color of the walls.
You don’t mention the type of paint though. It’s got to be an oil-based, right? And you used Penetrol to condition the paint to avoid brush strokes? I’m having trouble finding oil-based paints at the local Lowe’s and Menards. They don’t carry selections because “nobody uses those anymore.” So I’m left with a Rustoleum Gloss White to paint all the trim in my house. Seems generic but I guess it’ll work, right?
Great makeover – if you are interested in mantel/fireplace inspiration I stumbled upon an AMAZING site this week. Check out http://www.standout-fireplace-designs.com There are DOZENS of pages with fireplaces/mantels in all sorts of styles/periods. Some are jaw-dropping, particularly the stone/western designs. I’d love to know what you think of them. Keep up the excellent work!
Brilliant! I LOVE LOVE LOVE your solutions to nagging home decor issues! I ran out after reading this post, bought some of the Rustoleum High Heat paint and painted over the hideous brass bits on our fireplace cover – and it looks amazing! Thank you soooo much for the inspiration! I’ve been hating that brass since the day we moved into our home 4 years ago and now (thanks to you), it looks fabulous. xoxoxo