How to Redecorate a Fireplace

You might have a fireplace that is a bit of an eyesore and that you hardly use, but lack the money to have it replaced or neatly blocked up. It is relatively cheap and easy to make a disused fireplace look good again, using simple tiling and paint techniques. Buy or find suitably shaped pieces of wood to create the desired mantle piece and moldings for the fire place edges. Once you have a nice design finished and secured in place, prime everything and paint over it in a neutral sandy tone with eggshell enamel paint. Select 2 or 3 tones that are a bit darker than your base, but are an earthy brown / yellow / red in color. Mix these tones using oil paint, scumble glaze and turpentine and apply the colored glaze in horizontal, slightly uneven bands over the painted fireplace. These bands of color are then stippled wit h a stippling brush.