Randy, an airline pilot and the owner of this home, spent a lot of time in impersonal hotel rooms. When he returned home from long flights, he felt that his living room was uninviting.
 
 
The uninspiring brick fireplace was the natural focal point of the room, but because Randy's apartment was a rental, I didn't want to give it a complete and expensive overhaul. On the other hand, I knew I had to change the appearance of this unattractive fireplace to bring life to this room.
 
 

Greek Revival Style

I decided to build a facade over the rising structure of the fireplace, one that could be easily removed when the owner left the apartment. My inspiration for the shape of the new fireplace surround was taken from Greek Revival, a typically strong architectural style that I knew would bring much-needed energy to this room. Instead of painting the brick or covering it in plaster, I build a facade over the brick using sheets of medium-density fiberboard (MDF). You will need two pieces of MDF for the sides of the fireplace and one for the front of the fireplace. The mantle was left untouched.

After adding some molding for a little detail, I then primed the structure and applied a golden yellow base coat. To antique the wood, I wiped burnt umber water-based stain over the surface, leaving a buildup of stain behind in the corners and crevices around the molding to make it look old.

 
 

A Strong Statement with Color

Though the fireplace was the main focus of this room, I also wanted to give the space a homey feeling to finish it off. While the deep turquoise on the walls was not an obvious first choice, it is a color that worked equally well with the canvas slip-covered sofas and the country accessories that were already being used to decorate the room.