Melamine Fireplace Make-over

I have looked and looked and I finally have to conclude that . . . I didn't get a 'before' picture! Shame on me!  I'll have to just describe it.   

Back in May, I bought an electric fireplace made out of that light wood coloured melamine off of Kijiji for $60.  It can be used in a corner or flat against the wall.  It worked fine, just looked cheap.  But, I knew what I could do to it so I set to work.

First, I cleaned the fireplace thoroughly, and removed the doors & hardware.  Then, I glued the fancy scrolls to the fronts of the doors and held them firmly while the glue set (I used fast drying glue).  Finally, I primed everything with Stix.  Stix primer enables you to paint just about anything!  I always leave the primer to set for 24 hours.  

Using the Wooster Red Feather roller (my favourite product for leaving the best finish), I rolled on the first coat of Advance paint.  I used the Wooster Ultra Firm brush for the areas the roller couldn't reach and was very light with my brush strokes.  Advance paint is self-leveling by nature but using the right equipment sure helps as well.  

I find light colours require 3 coats of paint (leaving about 12 hours between coats at the minimum) as opposed to dark colours usually only needing 2 coats.

The hardware was gold so I spray painted it with Home Hardware's Beautitone Spray Lacquer in Silver Gloss (my favourite spray paint to give a brushed nickel look).

As with any of Benjamin Moore paints, you need to be careful with your surfaces for 2 weeks to a month as it fully cures.