After careful thought, and considerable input from our friends at the Lotta Living Forum, we finally chose a paint color.

The fireplace is now painted and we are very happy with the way it looks.

Of course, colors on web pages look different than they do in real life, but this picture gives you an idea of what it looks like.

The next step is to paint the trim.

We still have a long way to go, but we are really happy with how it is turning out.

We are trying to figure out what to do with this fireplace.

We don’t like the blue and would prefer restoring it to the original brick. However, that doesn’t seem very practical. The paint has penetrated deeply into the pores of the brick and it seems unlikely it will ever come out.

Even if it could be removed, it’s unlikely we’d be enthusiastic about removing it. Over many years we stripped, stained, and varnished every window, door, and piece of molding in our Portland home. Enough is enough.

We are probably going to repaint it a light color.

We have a few questions.

We are pretty committed to the YOLO Colorhouse no-VOC paints and will probably stay within their color palette. The wall behind the fireplace is now painted Clay 4. We are contemplating painting the fireplace Grain 5.

Does anyone have any tips on successfully painting an already painted fireplace? Especially one with deep indentations from brick to mortar.

Also, is it best to us semigloss paint (as it now is) or move to flat?

What are your thoughts?

Gary & Anne Olson