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
What a difference! White was DEFINITELY the right choice so I bet you’re right in that the mantel ‘spoke’ to you! I’m in the middle of a master bedroom makeover and am refreshing EVERYTHING I can get my hands on!
Kristine
xx
Kate you are a good friend to have!! What a difference a coat of paint makes! Also the brass detail painted black – love it.
Love this. I have lots of rooms on my list, once I finish the great room. Loving that paint color though. Just the right amount of color and depth.
That is great, it makes it so much lighter & really brings it up to date.
I love it when such a simple change yields such glorious results! This looks simply stunning.
VERY nice!
That looks like a much better fit in their home. How nice of you to help!
Amazing what a little paint can do. It looks great! I’ve got a mile long list of things that need to be “refreshed”, starting with my kitchen cabinets.
Super lovely!!
I actually did this exact same thing to my oak mantle this weekend. Love, love, love it!!!
Wow, that turned out beautiful!!! Somehow, it made the tile around the fireplace look more elegant, and you can actually see now that it compliments the wall color. Awesome job! And is that Home Depot’s Swiss Coffee? Because I’m in love!
Bland to Grand, that is so cute ! It looks wonderful.
Wow, that looks really great! It really pops!
I love the makeover! Can you come over and help me? ;) I’ve been wanting to paint my mantle, but I didn’t know if I had to sand it down first to paint it, but it sounds like you just used a primer, right? What color paint did you use? Thank you!!
XOXO
I have a big white mantle, but I’m trying to decide if I should paint the river rock around it.
I love what she did! It’s obvious this girl has talent and is bold, just look at the colorful walls! Very nice!!!
so pretty! you always inspire me!
Looks wonderful! Why do they even make fireplaces with brass anymore??
I love the makeover! I am not a fan of the colour of oak. It looks so much better. What a lucky friend. And thanks for posting the rusto-leum high heat paint. I was just telling my husband I want to paint out fire pit, and didn’t know what to use. Now I do!
Very nice makeover! I do love the white with the other colors!
Great makeover. With the white paint and the brass covered, it looks so fresh.
I used that tip about the high heat paint on my own surround when you posted it about it several months back. It made all the difference! Thanks!
This great transformation is an excellent example on how you don’t always have to spend a lot of $$ or expend a lot of effort to see a big change! Great job!
We had a brick fireplace in our Georgia home and I hated it. I told my husband that I was going to paint it white and he said no way. He went to Florida for a college football game and when he came home, it was painted white and he loved it. I like the fireplace redo. It looks great!
Wow! Just painting it white makes a HUGE difference. It makes everything look better =)
How could she not love it…looks amazing. Last year, after your brassy fireplace update…I went and took care of mine…then my neighbors…I have 2 more neighbors asking me to do the same thing. Thanks for sharing the easiest update ever…my neighborhood is improving…on totally black fireplace at a time:)
Aren’t you talented!! I so wish you lived closer so you could come over and see if something at my house would whisper to you!!!
It’s amazing how a few simple changes can have such a dramatic effect. Nice work!
Wow, it looks great, we just finished last night turning our brassy fireplace black to match but now our oak mantel stands out like crazy. Thanks for the great tutorial!!
My boss started a little side project some years ago which ended up fizzing out but he was importing these:
http://www.luxuryhousingtrends.com/archive/2007/06/vineyard-inspir/
Fireplace mantels in a grapevine motif. Every time I see one I think of this blog.
It looks 500% better! It’s beautiful.
It looks fantastic!
Whoa what a difference! Looks great.
Kate this has given me great tips for my own mantle!!
Giveaway by Beth Cosner Designs is up on my site. Do come visit and spread the word!
Karena
Art by Karena
I love this before and after! A dramatic change without a lot of money! And yes girl, I love the colors together! They look yummy! Well, maybe I’m just hungry ;-)
Have a great day!
It is amazing what some paint and accessorizing can do! This looks fantastic! I saw your first entry on updating the brass on the fireplace and we used the technique at our house- so easy and makes a world of difference. I think our paint can is on its 3rd round of neighbors doing the same :) Great job!
Looks wonderful! I really love the candlesticks and that sweet little vase next to them too!
Kate, you are a LOVELY friend – what a difference. The Mantle and fireplace look as though they belong now – want to come to my place?
I’ve been looking forward to you sharing this…I live in a home filled with oak everywhere. It was great in 1997 when the house was built, but it will soon have to GO. We are almost done phasing out all the shiny brass finishes, and I think my husband is actually open to painting all the woodwork some day (our windows are completely encased in oak, too). The fireplace will surround will probably be the most difficult for him to “deal” with, but now I’ve got a great example to show him! Great job!! (And I do love Mia’s warm spicy colors).
great transformation! you got the touch:-) hey, will you be posting pics from your son’s room? just wondering since i’m looking for ideas on boy beds. i’ll be moving my son out of the crib and into his own bed soon…thanks!!!
That is a great makeover! Her fireplace looks gorgeous. It is seriously-crazy what a difference paint can make!
Great job.
FAB.U.LOUS. If anyone ever needed her own column in BH&G or really any magazine, it would be you. :) Mia is lucky to have such a talented friend…her fireplace looks so warm and fresh now!
My list is about a mile long…I STILL need your input on our nasty ick-o bedroom, but that would require me doing a bit of decluttering work. :s I also need to work on recovering all of the pillows in my Family room.
Happy Tuesday. :)
wow, what a change!
You are like a fairy godmother come true! Great makeover.
Do you have a good advice on how to style a mantle? Mine is about 12′ – 15′ long, and I feel like it either looks too knick-knacky or too empty. What’s the happy medium? :) This looks beautiful BTW. Keep up the great work!
i need to dothis to my inlaws fireplace!
Oh, yes. That’s MUCH better. Love it!
I LOVE this transformation!
Great new look! It is so much more appealing! I’m also impressed with how spotless her house seems to be (from the little that shows in your pictures.) You said she has three kids and runs a salon? Well, kudos to Mia too!
See, Kate… it’s posts like this that make you about as close to a girl crush as I’ll ever have. I’ve told you about my classy circa 1992 casa before. I have a very similar fireplace insert and wood mantle and was just telling the hubs the other day that we didn’t need to splurge on a new insert because I thought there was special paint you could get to cover up that sexy brass. Of course, here you are with an inexpensive, but high-impact solution. Love it!
WOW! that is absolutely fantastic!!