My Fireplace Facelift

It was time. Past time. One look at this dark, hulking stone monster and I knew I had to do something.

See? It had giant, wide, deep and dark grout lines and really needed a refresh. Hours down the Pinterest rabbit hole and I felt brave enough to tackle the project. There were plenty of inspiration photos and I think I found them all. I wanted the stone to seem soft and ageless. (Can stone be soft?)

**Inspiration picture from Pinterest. This is soft stone and this is what I wanted.**

Most of all I wanted the whole thing lighter. To do lighter, I found this pre-mixed grout in Alabaster. It was just the right shade of a warm white. I ordered 1 quart on Amazon. And to think, I assumed a quart would be enough.

Nineteen quarts later and I was all done! I thought I’d be using a trowel but I found my hand and a damp sponge were most useful. I’d scoop up a dollop in my gloved hand and slather it in the grout lines and on the tops of the stones to lighten them up. Then I’d take my damp sponge and wipe away the wet grout until I liked the way it looked. I worked a small section at a time and before long it was done!