Another Completed Project -- Check!

"Before"

"After"

I spent the past weekend working on a project

that has dogged me since

I moved in a year ago.

The mantle of my fireplace

got a "slapdash" coat of paint

just before I moved in.

In addition to only having one coat

which really did not completely cover

the original paint,

it was painted with latex over oil,
which took foreveeeeeer to dry,

and the underside of the mantel shelf

never got painted.

So, lots of problems

I have lived with for the past year.

I also lived with the original red brick 

surround for a year,

trying to decide whether or not to paint it as well.

As you can see from above,

I decided to paint it.

My first coat on the bricks

which you see above

was with KILZ Hide-All.

After that I painted two coats a white latex 

on everything.

The black vent behind the fire screen

also got a coat of an oil based enamel.

I do not have a lot of experience

painting with enamel and while painting

with it, every brush stoke seemed to show.

I am happy to  say when it dried,

it was as smooth as satin!

I am very happy with the results of my

weekend project.

I am also happy to have this project off my list!