Cheap home update: painting an old brick fireplace

After recently flipping through a Room & Board catalog, I noticed the brick fireplace in their product shots was painted white.  The mid-century modern style + white painted brick looked beautiful and clean.  And it fit my budget as paint is one of the cheapest updates when it comes to home remodeling. After living with my stained, cracked fireplace for 8 years, I couldn't wait to give it a facelift.

I first spray painted the inside of the fireplace with a black high heat spray paint from Home Depot. I then filled the front crack on the fireplace - can't remember what product I used, but Google should suggest some or someone at Home Depot. :)

Next, after taping, I used a 3/4" thick roller to apply an acrylic primer recommended by Hirshfield's.

  

As the brick sticks out quite a bit, I then had to take a paint brush and fill in the lines which was very tedious.  I did two coats of primer, as it soaked into the brick and let each coat dry 24 hours in between. 

After the primer, I painted one coat of matte paint to give it a flat finish.  The white matte color I chose was almost exactly the same as the primer, so I would suggest skipping another can of white paint to save money and just doing the primer first to see if you are satisfied.  I still have some touch up work to do, but all in all, I'm very happy with how it turned out.  It definitely adds a cozy, modern feel to our home and compliments the woodwork around it.