Quick Fireplace Update

Well y'all - it's been a while since I've posted, and that's mostly because life has literally spiraled out of control, and so has the reno project. The bathroom still isn't done (though it's awfully close), and nothing else has really been tackled, except this one thing: the fireplace surround. Y'all remember what it looked like before:

As you can see - the... burnished brass look is a little dated, and I really wanted to get a whole new surround. But it turns out that fireplace surrounds are upwards of $200, and they look pretty much exactly like this except other colors. Since we decided to splurge on granite for the kitchen (oh - it's totally not a splurge - we got it for such a good deal, and it's gonna be gorgeous!), and we really want to get things done ASAP, it seemed a little silly to pay several hundred dollars for what we already have. So I took a note from Designed to Sell, and I spray painted it. Sounds sketchy, I know, but really - Krylon makes a great product, which works fantastically when you do it right (like most things).

Here's how it went:

1. Figured out how to remove the surround from the fireplace (there are bolts on the inside that are really easy to get to - these are not the ones you want, especially if you try to turn them and they won't turn - then there are bolts that are ish easy to get to and require half your body to be in the fireplace - those are the winners. Unscrew them and the whole thing lifts right out - I'll post a pic of that later)
2. Laid out plenty of paper and cardboard to make sure no overspray would get on anything I cared about (like the brick). I chose to do the spray painting inside, because every time I do something like that outside, bugs get sprayed in, which isn't exactly the aesthetic we're going for. But - the moral of the story is: protect everything that you like, because whatever you don't cover will encounter overspray.
3. Cleaned everything very thoroughly, then went over the metal I wanted to paint with high grit sand paper just enough to get the shine off of it (I think it had some kind of outer coating that looked a little like polyurethane when it came off). Then wiped all the sanding dust off of all the surfaces.
4. Used painters tape and a razor to tape off the glass perfectly. For each side of the glass, I laid painters tape all the way across the side, covering the seam between the metal and glass. Then I used the razor to trim directly in the seam, ensuring perfect coverage. I used paper (grocery ads in fact) to fill in the center of the glass.
5. The first thing I did was go over the entire surface with a coat of grey, metal, primer. Once that was dry (5 minutes) - I went over it again.
6. *** A side note - at this point I had already tested all the possible colors of metal spray paint on pieces of foil and had chosen the one I wanted -Krylon Oil Rubbed Bronze (it really looks kind of iron black, but whatever) ***
7. Once the second coat of primer dried (I let this one sit for 10 minutes) - I put on the first coat of the Oil Rubbed Bronze - then I waited 10 minutes and put a second coat on.

And that was it... except for one small detail. I missed the tops of the doors because of the orientation in which I sprayed. Then when I went to do them, I sprayed the paint too close to the surface, which caused some of the non-cured paint (it had been more than an hour and less than 24 since its last coat - which qualifies as Krylons 'absolutely no more coats of paint right now' time) to bubble and peel - a real downer. So in that spot, I used a razor scraper to remove all the coats of paint from that entire edge piece, I resanded, re-primered, and re-painted that entire piece. And in the future, I will recoat within an hour, or after 24 - but never anywhere in between.

And here's the progression Primer:

First Coat of Oil Rubbed Bronze Krylon

And the final product, please excuse the sad cell phone pic (my cell camera is actually great, but the lighting in this living room is horrendous):

I'll post a better pic at a later date, but I have to say - for $12 worth of spray paint, I'm super happy. Also, just for the record - it's probably safer to use high heat spray paint (specifically formulated for repainting barbecues and things like that), but none of the high heat stuff came in a sheen that we could live with, and truly - from experience, this particular fireplace surround really doesn't absorb that much heat on the surfaces we painted, because it's well insulated on the interior.

And that's what's been done in the last - way too long period of time. Anyone else spray painted their fireplace surround or found high heat spray paint that has a decent sheen to it? Let me know in the comments if so!