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Imitation Painted Marble Fireplace

Marble effect painting on fireplace
Marble effect painting on fireplace

For this imitation painted marble project I traveled down to near Milton Keynes. The couple who commissioned me were doing extensive renovations to their home and wanted a specialist painter to faux marble two of their fireplaces and bring them back to their former Victorian glory. I absolutely love creating the illusion of marble with paint and these projects were no exception, in fact they were some of the most rewarding to date. 

Marbleizing paint effect on Victorian fireplace
Marble effect painting on Victorian fireplace

This fireplace was located in the living room and was in very poor repair. It still had all of the original Victorian tiles however and hints of a previous faux marble finish.

Imitation Painted Marble Fireplace
The original condition of the fireplace
The original condition of the fireplace
The original condition of the fireplace

The Process –

Obviously there was going to be a lot of prep work involved in this project and after masking off the floor with Packexe and the tiles with low tack edging tape I set about thoroughly cleaning everything with Krud Kutter cleaner/degreaser. It took many cloths and many buckets of water but finally all the soot and loose flakes were removed.

The next stage was the sanding, during which it became very clear that over the years this fireplace had had quite a life and undergone many a transformation. Slowly but surely I revealed layer upon layer of different effects and colours; from faux wood and faux marble finishes to blue, green, black and red paint. 

Thoroughly masked off, cleaned and sanded
Thoroughly masked off, cleaned and sanded

Though the main part of the surround was the original real slate the mantel piece had been replaced at some point with wood.

Old replacement wooden mantel piece
Old replacement wooden mantel piece

Once everything was thoroughly sanded and the surface really nice and smooth, I applied two coats of shellac primer, sanding between each coat. I then filled/repaired/caulked various areas before applying two coats of Empire, a thixotropic alkyd paint from Finish manufacturer Tikkurila.  This had to be applied very well, with no visible brush marks or imperfections. The glazes used for the marble effect are transparent so any imperfection would be highly noticeable and spoil the illusion – the final effect is very dependent on the smoothness of the base. 

The marble paint effect begins
The marble paint effect begins

Once the black base colour was established, I masked off the panels and started to create the imitation marble effect. This was achieved by tinting Polyvine Oil Glaze with tubed oil paints and then applying it using various tool, brushes, cloths and feathers. To give the faux marble extra depth I made this a two stage process, overlaying the first marble layer I’d done with additional detailing and veining.

Faux marble paint effect on fire surround
Close up of the faux marble paint effect on fire surround

Once the panels had been painted I carefully ‘framed’ each one with a bronze line, also bringing out some of the hood detailing with a hint of same colour. This was all planned and not only complimented the tile colour but also the small amounts of burnt umber (a ruddy brown), I had used to warm up the colour of the marble.

Painted Marble Effect on Victorian Fire Surround
Close up showing the hand painted marble effect on the Victorian Fire Surround
Marble effect painting on slate fireplace
Marble effect painting on slate fireplace
Painted Marble Effect on Victorian Fireplace
Ultra close up of the painted marble effect
Painted Marble Effect on Victorian Fireplace
Ultra close up of the painted marble effect
Imitation Painted Marble Fireplace
Painted Marble Effect on Victorian Fireplace

The project was hard and dirty work at times but well worth it. I was over the moon with the end result and so were the clients. They just stood and looked at it for ages, always a really good sign! In fact they said they knew it was going to be good but that I had surpassed all their expectations. A great project, happy clients and beautifully restored Victorian marble fireplace, result 🙂

Lee works as a faux finish painter throughout Yorkshire and the UK, and is within easy reach for projects in Harrogate, York, Wetherby, Ripon, Ilkley, Leeds, Wakefield, Halifax and the surrounding areas.