Project a Day - Fireplace Mantel

This past weekend, I turned up the gas fireplace and enjoyed a book beside the fire for most of the day. It was a lovely way to spend a lazy day. With a military husband, a small business, and three kids 10 and under, lazy days are few and far between!  It was really great, until I realized that the fireplace had left soot marks all over my mantel. Whoops. I got out lysol dual action wipes and went to work.  Then, I got rags and more cleaners.  And a scrub brush.  Double Whoops. The soot had stained pretty good and the fireplace looked pretty bad.

Ick. Now what?  The mantel is stucco-ish, painted over several times with a dingy, off-white, semi-gloss paint. I've never really liked it that much.

Here it is, in all it's glory, close up:

Nice, huh?

Double Ick!  So, I decided to paint it as my project for today.  I went to Home Depot and bought a quart of semi-gloss primer and paint all in one, and a paintbrush. Oh, did I mention the color? Black!  

Once I got home, I got out my blue painter's tape and taped off the mantel. It was a little challenging because the corners are all rounded, and beneath the mantel is marble-y looking stone with rough stone edging at the top edge where it meets the mantel. The tape didn't want to stick very well to that.

I texted my husband one last time and asked if he was really ready for this, and he said go for it! I think that reaction was because he was glad that I hadn't been able to draft him into my little project this time!  

Here it is, in progress.

I looked over to the patio door and found our dog, Shady, looking at me. She looks nervous, don't you think? LOL

Here it is with the first coat on. What do you think so far?  It is a semi-gloss, latex paint, so I will put another coat on this evening before bed, and let it dry overnight before taking the tape off and seeing how it looks.
Then, I will try out a new mantel arrangement, I think! Pinterest.... here I come!!

Here it is all dry, with the tape removed!