Sunday, February 8, 2015

Stenciled Granite Fireplace {Cutting Edge Stencils}

Fireplace #1

(Restoring The Lefere Mansion}


Lots of people told me not to touch the granite around my fireplace.  It's granite, Kammy!  Who cares if you hate the color - you don't paint over granite!!  

Well, if I have my mind made up, I'm eventually going to to do it.  Sorry, folks, if you're wanting to reach through your computer screens and smack me right now but I just couldn't look at the pinkish hue of that granite around my fireplace (fireplaces plural, actually, since I painted the granite around the one in the living room too... but that's for a different post) any longer!  Plus, I had this grand idea of stenciling it to look like hexagon tile and emailed my buddies over at Cutting Edge Stencils to see what they had.  They didn't have a hexagon shape exactly, but they had lots of other options for me and in just a few days I was holding in my hands a brand new stencil from Cutting Edge.  
Rabat-stencil-furniture
I chose the Rabat Craft Stencil.  I decided the wall stencil would be a little too large and cumbersome but I wanted it big enough so that I wouldn't have to do too much matching.   It was perfect!

Let's back up in time a little bit first and behold how this area appeared back in the fall.  

Meet Marie Smith, one of my little angel helpers in the overwhelming house project, paining my walls a beautiful shade of gray: 



I'm a huge new fan of Zinsser's Perma-White.  It is totally the bomb-diggety.  I had originally bought it after watching a YouTube video on how to paint my tile backsplash.  I never ended up using it for that however, since I ended up being forced by my electrician to bash it off the wall.  


Using a sponge roller, I put three coats on.  It dried super hard and I was sold on the stuff.  I think it would take some major effort to scratch it off!



Now for the fun part!  My stencil!  I actually used the same Perma White paint and just added a couple drops of black paint to it to get a soft gray shade.  The tricky part is making sure you have barely any paint on the roller so it dosn't seep under the edges.  I roll it out as much as I can in a container until I have to press firmly in order to get any color out.  The less paint on the roller though, the less chance for seepage and smudged lines.  I still had a couple, but kept a damp rag handy to quickly erase any mistakes.  Cutting Edge Stencils has lots of great tips and ideas on their website www.cuttingedgestencils.com.



This old trunk holds throw blankets and kid's toys and will remain there until we eventually get a gas log insert.



I love my lantern sconce lights that came from Lowes!  





Thank you, my friends at Cutting Edge Stencils, for another high quality stencil! 
 I can't wait to use it on more projects!

See our other fireplace makeovers:

Fireplace #2
Mantel built from scraps:


Fireplace #3
Master Bedroom:



Sharing here:
The DIY Dreamer The Shabby Nest
Savvy Southern Style  My Repurposed Life Funky_Junk's_Party_Junk_link_party_150
TDC Before and After

13 comments:

  1. I've come to that conclusion at times too with projects. "Who says you can't paint it?! I can if I want too!" :) Looks great Kammy!

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  2. so beauty!!!
    ps. kisses from Poland:*

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  3. Hello! Found you via Motivational Monday! This is an absolutely awesome DIY project! Okay, can I hire you to do my fireplace now...lol! Thanks so much for sharing, it look beautiful. :)

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  4. I think that the stencil looks way better than the granite did before!

    xoxo, SS

    The Southern Stylista

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  5. I love the stenciled look, it is so much better. Every room in your new house is amazing, keep up the good work. I wish I could use this on my UGLY fireplace, but it's stone so it wont work for me. good luck with the rest of the house.
    Andi

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  6. Who cares that it was granite! It is your home and if you hate it then I think painting it was a genius idea! I love the stencil you chose. Looks lovely and neutral now.

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  7. That's a BIG improvement! Have you tried to clean the inside of the firebox yet? I haven't tried it myself, but have read that shaving cream is great for removing soot.

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  8. I am so glad you aren't afraid what other people think, this granite looks way better with some stencil action! Beautifully staged too!

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  9. So jealous of your fireplaces! Your home is turning out so nice!
    ~Tami

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  10. What a huge difference! It really is beautiful and allows the eye to flow.

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  11. What a difference! It's beautiful and really allows the eye to flow.

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