Painted the fireplace (sorry, Mark)

I debated long and hard about this decision. I looked at countless blogs, design and DIY websites searching for painted fireplaces and researching the pros and cons. It came down to three main points: 1 - I'd like to eventually remodel the fireplace anyway, 2 - the bricks were not really in very good shape or great looking to begin with, and 3 - I thought the white would contrast better and fit better with our plans for the rest of the house. A few before shots to refresh your memory:

the finished look

It was a tough, time-consuming project, but Michael and I are both really happy with the result. I also spent a day this week painting the master bedroom. The new color looked a lot like the old color when it was wet, which had me worried, but it dried quite differently. The original was a neutral beige-ish color with peachy undertones. We chose a neutral beige-ish color in the brown family. You can kind of see the difference in this picture. I had not painted the edging yet, so the original color shows near the ceiling.