Progress on the fireplace

Hi friends.... I am making progress on our fireplace makeover and getting closer to seeing my ship lap dream come true. You can find my inspiration for this project here.

So far I sanded the mantel down to bare bones and primed the dark stain.  Brace yourself you are about to see the chaos that goes along with painting.

I sanded the mantel using a palm sander.  

This was the first time I ever used oil-base primer and it wasn't fun. The odor is strong and the clean up was a horror. I like the fact it left no brush strokes and it completely covered the dark stain.

Big difference already, and this is just with the primer.

This is what I don't like about painting......
The Chaos

My next step is to paint the fireplace. 

 I will post my color choice soon!!