A $700 Fireplace Makeover Saves the Original Mid-Century Wood Paneling

If you have a focal point in your home, whether that’s a piece of furniture, a window, a door, or, in Courtney Batten’s (@texasmodernist) case, a fireplace, it deserves to be celebrated. Courtney’s home is a 1956 ranch, and it has great mid-century bones.

“My husband and I had been looking for a mid-century home with character for months when we stumbled on this gem,” Courtney explains. “We were thankful that the seller had kept much of the original features and charm … however, the entire home was painted a cool toned gray that has become synonymous with flipped homes.”

Not even the solid wood paneling above the fireplace was spared, and the all-over gray made the fireplace fade into the background. Courtney adds that it even made the ceiling seem low because there was nowhere for your eye to move up to the ceiling.

Courtney and her husband, Jered, had “never really done any DIY projects” before, and the ranch is the first home they’ve owned. Before kickstarting their fireplace makeover, the couple had actually had professionals tell them the project of getting the existing gray paint off the paneling would be impossible — especially considering all the small grooves. 
“My husband, however, spent his college years working at an auto body shop sanding down cars to be refinished, so between that and lots of tips and tricks from various YouTube videos, we figured it out as we went,” Courtney says, adding that their backup plan was to mimic the original paneling with plywood if their paint removal plan didn’t work.