If your old fireplace has become a source of frustration to you, you don’t have to live with that frustration anymore. Remodeling fireplaces doesn’t have to be a huge project that involves lots of mess, time, and money. Take a look at the many choices now available to solve fireplace mantle design problems. . You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

You now have more options than ever for giving your ugly mantel and surrounds a new air of charm and grace, including tile, copper, wood, stainless steel, precast concrete, stone, artificial stone, or faux paint and plasters. You can also use various combinations to create an even more dramatic look and feel. you’re limited only by your taste and budget.

If you want a relatively easy and simple solution, your local home improvement store can generally supply an all-wood mantel for around $200 or a complete kit that includes both the mantel and surrounds for $400 or less. That’s a comparatively small sum, but your choice of designs will be limited to what they have on hand or can order for you.

Your next choice is to have something custom designed and built, which will easily cost two to four times as much, although it will give you a unique fireplace that helps accomplish exactly the look you want and can afford. That is a viable option if you’re really trying to upgrade the entire look of your room, since a fireplace generally presents the focal point of a living space.

You can save some money by hiring a contractor that specializes in faux surfaces to turn one form of material into something different. A skilled faux artist can do virtually anything, depending again upon your taste and budget, and their work guarantees that your fireplace will be unique, which is an added bonus, considering their work will generally be considerably less expensive than purchasing the materials they’ve imitated.

Another cost-saving bonus is that there is usually no demolition work required to add a faux finish. This can save thousands of dollars, as well as a significant amount of time and mess.

Precast concrete can also save quite a bit of expense, since it can be molded into many very attractive styles and shapes. Polyurethane is also enjoying an increasing popularity, since it can also be molded into many shapes and colors and is relatively easy to apply.

Examine your fireplace mantle and daydream a bit about the possibilities. Then take action towards updating your mantle so you can curl up and enjoy the warmth and the room’s design.

By: Jeanette Joy Fisher

About the Author:

MP3 Player Accessories

The word “faux” actually means false, and refers to the technique of making one material look like another.

For example: A concrete column can be made to look like it was made out of Marble or Granite. Or old kitchen cabinets can be changed into new oak cabinets without buying any wooden panels at all – the correct applied Faux Finish makes it possible.

With BLEND and GLAZE, a semi-translucent glazing and blending medium, faux finishes and decorative painting techniques can be created easily. This can be done with different techniques like sponging, rag rolling, or dragging.

General Tips

Always prepare the surface properly before you do any faux finishes!

Surface Preparation

o A completely sealed surface is important for successful faux finishes.

o Fill all cracks or holes with a spackling Compound Prime and seal with a Primer Sealer or another primer of your choice. Apply a base coat of any interior latex paint (flat, satin or semi-gloss) in a color of your choice and let it dry overnight.

o Once the base coat is dried, mask off any areas which won’t be glazed by using a blue painters tape. Remove the tape immediately after the last glazing step.

o Do first some samples to see how your used technique will look.

o Work in small sections, start in an upper corner and complete one wall or section, stopping in a corner or natural break.

o Work quickly and complete each section before the glaze becomes tacky, (in about 10 -15 minutes). When doing negative applications, leave a thick wet edge of natural glaze at the end of each section to allow blending of the next section.

o Wear gloves when glazing; your hands will get really dirty.

o Always use lint-free rags.

Choosing the right color

oThe easiest way to choose colors is by using the take home color strips available at your local paint store.

oSelect colors that compliment your furniture, window treatments, carpet or wallpaper to coordinate the look of your room.

oSince finishing with BLEND & GLAZE is a process that consists of layering different translucent colors over a base coat, you should choose colors that are in the same color family to achieve the best results.

oThe final color will be most predominant. Start with the color you want to see least and end with the color you want to see most.

Color strips are usually arranged in shades from light to dark. It is better to choose a light color for the base coat. The glazing color(s) should be two or three shades deeper than the base coat. For a softer, frosted effect, you can reverse this by selecting a dark base coat and the glaze color(s) two to three shades lighter.

Should a color get too dark you won’t be able to lighten it up. In such a case you will have to redo the whole section! Therefore always start with light colors!

By: Gabriele Utz

About the Author:

Discount Halloween Costumes