First of all, I want to start today’s post by wishing my sweet big brother, Jason, a happy happy birthday!!  I love you very much and I hope today is splendid!  (PS- did I mention he’s getting married this year? It’s a big one!)

A few weeks ago, we did something so simple that I think really made a big difference in the downstairs rooms.  We have fireplaces in four rooms downstairs: the foyer, the formal living room, the dining room, and the den.  Three of those got a bit of a face lift.

Along with the two tubs, we decided the fireplace inlays should get a coat of Rustoleum as well.  So each fireplace was cleaned (for the first time in probably at least a decade), each inlay was taped off, then primed and painted.  We chose to go with Flat Black instead of the glossy.  In the pictures, it probably looks like a very subtle, almost unnoticeable difference.  But if you see it every day, the fireplaces just look so much more fresh and clean.

Here is the den fireplace before:

Not too bad, just very dirty and kind of gross.  Here it is after a round of paint.

Unfortunately, it’s not that the floor tiles aren’t clean…they are stained.  That’s what 112 years does to tile, I guess!  I’m looking into some deep cleaning options.

Here’s a look at the dining room before:

We immediately got rid of that dingy old screen and went to town cleaning this fireplace.  Here it is after a coat of primer (which just happens to be the ugliest color ever):

And here it is after a coat of paint:

For this fireplace, I’m looking into tile painting options.  Nothing major, but I’d like to paint the black border tiles black again to give the whole piece a fresh look.

Here’s the foyer before:

Again, nothing terrible, but in need of a deep cleaning.  Here it is after paint:

Now all that’s left is the formal living room fireplace, which is actually accessible now that we’ve moved our furniture into the rest of the house.  Maybe that will happen this weekend?

On another note, I love that each fireplace inlay is completely different and each room has a pattern all its own.  No repetition here!

If you’d like to know exactly how to go about painting with Rustoleum, you can follow the same process that we used for the tubs here.  It’s a quick, cheap, and easy fix that can really make a difference throughout your house!

Side note: Rustoleum goes a VERY long way.  We bought a quart of primer and it covered a standard pedestal tub, a “baby” clawfoot tub, and three fireplace inlays, including two inlay doors.  And we still have about a third of the can left!  So if you are planning to prime or paint with Rustoleum, you can probably get away with less than you think.

PS- This blog was nominated for The Homies Award over on Apartment Therapy (I know, I can’t believe it either).  If you enjoy reading, hop on over there and vote…you can vote for as many blogs as you like! Thanks friends! :)