SO FAR............................

I held my breath and started painting....First I painted it one of my favorite shades of brown, but it just didn't pop....Everything else in the room kind of overshadowed it....So I put a thin coat of black and hand sanded it with my sanding disc....A thin coat makes it so you don't have to sand as much....Actually, I used a foam brush and even rubbed it on in most places...


The first picture is with a flash....And this is without a stain...Just sanded...I could hear Linda (Behind My Red Door) sigh as I started my first stroke..LOL...You know how she loves her reds!


And I think I panicked for a minute because I'm pretty sure this paint color may be unavailable now....I've had it this red for probably 16 years...I wrestled with gray, brown, the brown I painted the trim, my favorite shade of blue,etc...But as you can tell in the last picture that I have; my shaker cabinet, shelf above the fireplace, and bench ( that I brought in from the front porch) is in a dark blue....I think they go together well with the black...What do you think??


I'm still not sure about the other one...It might be another color all together...I can tell you that my all time favorite rooms with black fireplaces are Linda's of the Keepingroomhttp://thekeepingroomprimitives.blogspot.com/ and Ann's house ( a home tour)http://www.farmhouse-primitives.com/store/WsAncillary.asp?ID=11 that Pam has on her website....I absolutely LOVE their homes!!!


I'll keep you posted!!!..Let me tell you I APPRECIATE EVERYONE'S comments and suggestions....


~~hugs, Jen