We’ve never had a fireplace before and have 2 in our home in Virginia. As winter turned to spring (or at least it SHOULD be spring) I cleaned out the ash and debris from the firebox of our wood burning fireplace. The doors and screens were super simple to remove and after living here for 8 months it never occurred to me to remove them!

I was liking the idea of leaving the doors off for the spring…and summer…and fall and maybe forever. But it was looking pretty bad even after scooping ash, vacuuming and scrubbing it. Yuck!

Enter the magic! I bought this paint at Sherwin Williams to use in high heat areas. Ran it by my fireplace guy, Ralph, whom I text with questions and probably drive him CrAzY. There’s always someone like that and it’s me😂. FYI Rustoleaum also makes a high heat spray- I just happened to be in SW and snagged it. (Side note- I scrubbed the metal wood basket thing but decided to keep it as is because I like the patina)

Sprayed the entire inside of the firebox with the black spray paint so any ugly burn marks on white brick have virtually disappeared! I simply opened the doors, held my breath and sprayed until I emptied the can.

Isn’t looking so much better? I added some birch logs I bought off Amazon as well as some battery operated fairy lights also off Amazon. I love the black backdrop and plan to have fun staging inside the fireplace over the seasons vs leaving the doors on and covering up that space.

Food for thought y’all. Have you thought about removing your doors and making the fireplace a focal point?