One of the things that attracted me to this house is its character – some is original and some has been added over the years. Whilst there are elements I like and elements I don’t like; parts that work and parts that are just totally bizarre – it is the combination of original elements, weird quirks and great potential that I love. As I mentioned in my first post, I am planning to extend, renovate and redesign this house. This will take time and so until then, there are a few elements I am not such a fan of, that I want to work on.

The original late 1920s fireplaces are sadly long gone and instead we are left with a false brick surround, a hole and the marks of where an old electric fire once was. The yellow tone and weird markings on the bricks really just don’t work for me! As there is every change we will be altering the size and purpose of this room quite significantly in the future, I wanted an inexpensive way to refresh this tired, ugly fireplace.

Making a change

I decided to go down the simple, budget friendly route of painting the brickwork. Whilst I love using strong colours, in this case I am not trying to draw attention to this part of the room. Instead I want to keep it subtle and give it a more contemporary feel. For this reason, I chose to go for white, in a matt finish – giving it a modern-industrial feel.

I am delighted with the overall effect. Currently we are not yet sure whether the chimney is safe to use, so for now, (and particularly over the summer months when we don’t need it anyway) I have filled the black hole with logs – this works well to stop your eyes focussing on this dark empty space. The warm tones of the wood, as well as the beautiful grain patterns, give the space a warm feel and really finishes it off.

Paint is a great way to freshen something up without spending a fortune. The endless array of colours and finishes available give you the opportunity to create fun, striking spaces or eliminate overbearing patterns that you can no longer live with. With just a tin of paint and a brush you can produce fabulous results!

I am working on another little project at the moment in which I am also using paint to help create a transformation. Look out for the blog post coming soon for more paint refresh inspiration.

All photography © Amy Keast.