The Most Affordable Way to Make Your Fireplace Pop

The Makerista Gwen Hefner recently realized that when everything in a room is covered in the same veneer, it's hard for any one feature to stand out. Case in point: her wallflower of a fireplace. It should've been a beautiful architectural detail, but it had all but disappeared into the sea of '80s oak paneling in her living room. She had two choices: replace the hearth and surround with beautiful but pricey marble, or create the illusion of an expensive, new facade with paint. She opted for the latter, and the results are dramatic to say the least. Check out the before and after of her fireplace paint makeover ahead, and head to The Makerista to get the full scoop and detailed DIY tutorial.

The fireplace should've been an architectural highlight of the living room, but instead it had faded into the background.

The transformative DIY was fairly simple. Gwen began by carefully taping the fireplace and applying a coat of primer.

Then, she painted the fireplace with two coats of Benjamin Moore's Black Beauty paint.

The end result is dramatic to say the least. Dark and contrasting, the fireplace is now a focal point of the living room. Visit The Makerista for the complete DIY tutorial.