Painting Fireplace Screen Doors For Under $5

I’ll say right up front that this project has been a little hit or miss. I say this specifically because I’m anxious to redo the entire fireplace NOW. However, I need to keep in mind that this is just the first part of the project.

This is my current fireplace.

This is my inspiration.

Source: armellejewelry.blogspot.com via Addison on Pinterest

The first part of the project was to paint the fireplace screen doors. If you read this post, you know my feelings about brass. To catch you up…

…it’s UGLY!

Since it’s a working fireplace, I picked up a can of High Heat Matte Black Spray Paint and started taping everything in sight.

Since I couldn’t be sure the black spray paint would match the existing black, I decided to paint all the black. So I only papered off the wall and tile, leaving all brass and black visible. This would also be a good time to sand the finish if necessary.

After this, I took a short break to get my dog into the backyard. He jumped around in his kiddie pool and realized that he was now locked out.

“Mom, I love you…”

“…please let me back inside.” Sorry Bubba!

I left him out to dry while I inhaled paint fumes sprayed 2 coats of paint on the fireplace screen doors.

The above picture is when I had already taken some of the paper off the glass to see how much brass you could still see, but the black was still drying. These doors were tricky to paint because there is brass on the outside and inside. I can’t figure out how to access the inside of the doors so there is still some brass visible. I popped the doors open so the paint didn’t dry them shut and left everything this way overnight.

Luckily everything evened out as it dried, but if you do this yourself with the spray paint, be very light handed. This paint was very tough to spray evenly and it was frustrating to say the least.

After 24 hours I took the rest of the paper and tape down.

You may be wondering why one of the handles is a different color. It’s not really, they are both wood and unpainted. I removed the painters tape from one, and have left it on the other one so it’s easier to do some touch ups. Yes, I also got paint on the tile on the right. I figured this would happen, and even though it’s a bummer, I’m okay with it since tile removal is next on the list to be done.

One last look…Before.

…and After (so much better)

Next Steps for the project: