Painting a Brass Fireplace!

I was hired to stage a vacant home. I knew I would have to bring some color in, because most of the house had white walls, and the carpet was very close to being white. But, sometimes you just have to do a little more. When I saw this brass fireplace, I decided to give it a facelift. I was a little nervous because I had never done this before, and it didn't seem smart to experiment on a fireplace belonging to someone else. But, I threw caution to the wind and jumped in!

I bought satin black grill paint, safe up to 1000 degrees, #0000 steel wool, and two cheapo throw-away paint brushes (sorry, I know it's not very green of me, but I was not about to clean them in the owner's sink, and they were made of wood).

I put newspaper down and started roughing up the brass with the steel wool. I taped the areas where metal touched tile, and started painting. It did require a second coat, which I applied at the end of the day, right before photos. When it was wet, you could see brush strokes and drips. When it dried, it was ALL smooth! What do you think?

 

This is what the room looked like the first time I saw it. It was adjacent to the kitchen which had been remodeled with cherry cabinetry, granite counters and stainless steel appliances. This kind of looked like the room the world forgot.

I didn't place a lot of furniture or accessories, but just enough to give everyone an idea how beautiful this room could really be. Now, if this house was mine, I would only allow showings later in the day. Look how beautiful it is with a little late day glow! 

This project took about 40 minutes initially, and then another 20 for the second coat. In one hour this whole room was given a new updated look. The owner was thrilled! And, my worst nightmare (dropping the open can of black paint on the carpet) never materialized! Thanks for letting me share this project with you!