I did something last week. And there may be some who don’t like it. But one thing that I have learned from living in our farmhouse these past 2 1/2 years, is that I need to be true to me and my style. This is our home and I have the freedom to decorate in the style that suits me. So…I painted our stone fireplace. In all honesty, I have been thinking about it for the past 6 months and I finally ignored all the “what ifs” and just did it. And guess what? I love this painted stone fireplace!
Let’s jump into a before and after picture and then I will explain why I made the drastic decision to paint my stone fireplace.
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Why a painted stone fireplace?
- Even though the original part of our home was built in 1836, we do not believe that this stone is original to the home.
- I have struggled decorating such a massive mantel and fireplace. This is mostly because of the dark colors. Any light decor stood out as awkward on the mantel. And any darker decor did not stand out at all. The various tones and texture also added to the difficulty.
- After the various stages of our dining room makeover, the stone fireplace was a bit of an elephant in the room. It really didn’t “match” the feel of the rest of the room.
- There are a total of 4 stone fireplaces (front and back) in our home. It was a no-brainer to whitewash our living room fireplace. But I don’t have any plans to change the look of the 2 remaining stone exteriors that are in our family room and homeschool room.
I know that future owners may have some words about my painted stone fireplace makeover. But for right now, this is our farmhouse and I couldn’t be happier with how much lighter, brighter, and bigger our dining room now feels!
Is there something in your home that you just can’t seem to love? Have you thought of a solution? Are you scared to try it? Has it been on your mind for a while? I say go for it! Make your home one that you love. Ignore the trends. Ignore the possibility of someone not liking it. Be you. Be your home style.
And if anyone says something negative, just send them my way. Or: say, “at least I didn’t paint my stone fireplace like Little by Little Farmhouse!” Don’t worry, I can take it. And I’ve got your back!
xo,
Leigh
I think you nailed it! What a beautiful change and a fabulous fireplace! Now anything you style it with is going to pop!
I would have to say at first I was like WHAT DID SHE DO THAT FOR??
But after I saw it I LOVED IT!!
I believe you nailed it….it’s PERFECT!!
Yay! So glad that I won you over, Debbie! xo
Thank you, Vivian! Your encouraging words are just what I needed to hear. And you are so right about decor popping on the mantel now. Thank goodness! 🙂
Ok, here is my honest opinion, in my house the natural stone would look good, BUT, didn’t suit your style. Your home is light and bright and the stone weighed it down. And the most important thing, it is YOUR home, and what you like is all that matters. Nothing makes me madder than when someone comes on here and bad mouths someone for how they decorate their OWN home !!!!!! No one does you any better than you !!!!! Love your home !
Linda,
Thank you. The natural stone looked perfect with all of the natural wood that the previous owners had in these rooms. But…I painted most of that wood. Ha! At this point I don’t think we could ever invite them over…yikes! I really do appreciate your encouragement. And you are right that we should decorate our own homes and not worry about how anyone decorates their home. Have a blessed day!
It looks so crisp and clean now! Great job…you are are very brave! 😉
Thank you, Laurie! I was really nervous about it because I have no desire to remove paint from stone. Yikes! So happy that I don’t have to now! 🙂
2 years ago i painted our full-wall brick fireplace…varying shades of red brick with BLACK mortar!! 😳. It is now a beautiful bright ultra white with a heavy mantle much like yours…and i LOVE it!! And yours is BEAUTIFUL! Don’t worry about what ANYONE says! It’s your fireplace in YOUR house!! I love it!!!
Debbie,
I love that you were willing to change your fireplace again to something that you now love! You go, girl! xo
Looks great!
Thank you so much, Peggy!
I love it. I love the white with the wood tones. You did a great job!
Thank you so much, Michelle! I do love the white with the wood tones as well. 🙂
LOVE IT————–sooooooooooooooooo bright!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOVE IT————–sooooooooooooooooo bright!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you, Rose! I love how bright it is too. And I am finally excited to decorate it. 🙂
I really love what you did painting the fireplace was a really good ideal the stone weight the room down. Painting it white .lighted it up. Great job!
Thank you so much, Linda! The room is lighter and brighter now…and it feels bigger!
So pretty!!!!! Who cares what the former homeowners think, after all, they moved out, lol! I’ve seen a lot of painted brick fireplaces, but yours may be the first painted stone I’ve seen. Definitely lightens up the look. I have a similar dilemma, except mine is brick. It is a mottled mix of taupe, gray, and a darker color that I describe as purplish brown. It is neutral, didn’t bother me until recently when I decided to try to lighten and warm up the look in my living room. I decorate in a country cottage style with a lot of color, mostly reds, greens, golds and warm browns, and it just looks drab. Also, some of my decor on the mantle and hearth doesn’t stand out as much as I would like. Wanting to mimic the look of stone I saw a lot of in Pennsylvania and do a warm golden beige/wheat color, which I think will look much better with the golden oak mantle and trim. I plan to do more of a wash than solid paint, but will see how it goes. Thanks for the motiviation! Love your blog❤️
Thank you, Vicki. If the fireplace was brick, I probably wouldn’t have hesitated for so long. It just felt like painting stone was a bad thing to do. But now with our table and rug, it just stuck out too much.
I say go for it! Send me pictures too!
Lady it looks fabulous!!! So bright and pretty! I’m proud of you for jumping into it.
I wish someone would cattle prod me to get my old carpet up and out!! We have hard wood
floors with carpet over and I’ve wanted to pull it up for years! Do you know if it’s possible to not have to refinish floors – can I just remove the carpet and tacks or whatever and then leave the floors as is?
Can you tell I don’t know anything about flooring? Ha!
Go for it, Jenifer! Well, maybe check the condition of the floors first. Try and pull up a little corner and peek underneath. It is possible to live with the hardwood floors as is, unless they are dangerous. In other words, so rough with splinters. Otherwise, it would just be the look of them. And you can always sand your floors on your own. You can rent a sander and they’ll tell you how to do it. I promise that it isn’t as scary as it sounds. Now go and check out those hardwoods!
I think YOU DO YOU. And that’s what i just did when German smearing mine. I don’t care what anyone thinks. My husband and kids and I love it. I love yours and it changed everything. Good job, mama!
Love it! Beautiful job!
Thank you, Linda! 🙂
Yay for being us and taking the plunge! Yours looks fantastic!
Looks great!
Is like now it belongs in the room. it doesnt crash. Love how you styled it!
Thank you, Vanesa! I feel like the room finally all goes together and that is a very good thing.
I have the exact same dilemma with our stone fireplace & stone wall on the right. It’s gold, orange, gray & just a little brown. In other words, it’s kinda ugly. I would love to do it in white as your’s is gorgeous! We have gas logs to heat the room as there only 2 heating vents in the room. We also have a seated hearth with more rock underneath. It will be quite an undertaking, but I think worth it. What kind of paint did you use??
Go for it, Karen! It did take me many many hours as there are so many crevices with stone. I knew that I wanted a full coverage, so I went back over the stone many times. If you want to do a whitewash instead, those aren’t as time consuming, but they don’t have a full solid coverage. It would depend upon the look that you want.
Since this project was done on a whim without a trip to Home Depot, I used what I had. I put 4 coats of primer on the stone. I tend to use BIN primer. There was some bleed-through that needed quite a bit of work. And then I put 2 coats of a regular latex paint. It is the same Glidden that I use on my walls. Hope this helps!