Fireplace Redo

Oh, the mid-90's. So much brass. WHY?! I didn't like it then, and I don't like it now. Unfortunately, our house was built in the mid-90's and is full of said brass. My Fella takes personal offense to two things in the house: the brass on the fireplace and one light fixture in particular in the basement. I can't say I disagree with him. He thought he was stuck with the fireplace, but he's got me...and I've got Pintrest! So I searched, I KNEW there had to be a fix, and I knew if anyone could tell me about it, it was my fellow Pintrested parties. As it turns out, Rust-Oleum makes a high heat paint (as does Krylon, if you have a preference). My store only had the Rust-Oleum brand, spray paint variety, but it IS sold in cans according to the website.

We debated back and forth a bit about how you're not supposed to spray paint inside and then decided we were way too cool to worry about that stuff...especially since we didn't seem to have an option if we wanted it done NOW (and we DID). We opted for the silver because I was afraid it'd look like we just had a big, black hole in the wall. My fella thought he might like the black better, but didn't care so long as it wasn't brass anymore!

When we got home, we opened all the doors and windows, stashed the cats in a bedroom, and got to work. The horizontal strips above and below the doors pop off on our fireplace, so I removed those and the door pulls and took 'em outside to be painted. I used a really, super duper fine grit sand paper and sanded all the pieces I would be painting. Then I papered every surface that was nearby. I even threw a cheap plastic table cloth over the couch and plastic bagged the coffee table.

I've started to spray here, but quickly realized I needed to protect more of the surrounding area.

The final result isn't EXACTLY what I wanted...maybe I should've gone with the black?? My Fella actually prefers the silver, though. Typical lol I'm definitely changing out the door handles, too. I just haven't found anything I like :( Aaaaaaaaand we're still trying to agree on what to do with the mantel...hand to God, we got this far with the new items, but can't agree on what to put IN the jar. And I think we need colored candles...the white blend right in. But, for now, here's the new fireplace!

Whatcha think? Should I have gone with the black? What would YOU put in the apothecary jar?