A couple of weeks ago as my husband I were relaxing one evening, I looked at my fireplace decided it needed a change. The whole space was recently painted, including the mantle. I’m not sure why I didn’t ask the professional painter to paint the tiles while he was here!
When the fireplace was built, we had some tiles leftover from the bathroom renovation. So not a lot of thought went into the selection, these worked at the time.
I considered painting the tiles black to match the insert, and my friend suggested putting up black construction paper to see if I liked it. What a brilliant idea! After looking at inspiration photos on Pinterest, I decided to keep it light. And I happened to have a sample pot of paint matching my mantle.
After thouroughly cleaning the tiles and insert, I gathered my supplies. I had some leftover primer from a previous project. After reading the can, I determined it should work on the tiles with my latex sample paint.
I started applying the primer with a brush, without taping the insert. I usually don’t tape when painting, plus I couldn’t find any painters tape in my stash. I quickly realized that the matte paint on the insert was not forgiving and difficult to remove even immediately with my wet rag. I ended up taping with masking tape.
After three coats of brush paint, the tiles are drying quite nicely. I thought a roller might create a better finish. I will reserve judgement when I can see it fully dried in morning light.
A quick refresh and cleaning of the fireplace………my husband will be pleased it didn’t cost a cent! Especially since he probably won’t even notice when he gets home from work. Sometimes I prefer my decor changes go under his radar.
The Next Day……..
The paint dried nicely. The finish is matte and the mantle is more of a pearl finish, however, I am pleased with the results! If I change my mind I’m only out a couple hours of my time.
Nesting Nut 