I then painted the mantel using a solid brown walnut paint. I allowed the fireplace and mantel to dry, then removed the masking tape and drop cloth. The entire project took about 2 hours. We still had to finish painting the hearth edges in this pic. The last pic shows the completed fireplace.
In this pic the hearth edge still shows the old brick. We have now finished this as you can see in the last picture.
With some decor added…
The almost finished product with bottom edge of hearth painted.
My husband decided to frame the fireplace…
He used a mantel we purchased a couple years ago and framed up around fireplace.
Finished product. He used lumber and his power tools to cut, and form mantel, surround, and took it up to the ceiling. I absolutely love my fireplace now!!!