Painting - How to paint a wooden fireplace?

Hello!!

I am a recent homeowner and teacher who is trying to keep herself busy in the summer. I have a large wooden fireplace in the middle of my family room and was wondering what you thought about painting the wood portion of it. What type of paint is good for painting wood, and any opinions on whether you would paint the brick as well. I would like to look nicer than it does, but not stick out in the living room, which is a pale yellow color. Any suggestions or ideas would be helpful! I have a picture but am having trouble attaching it to this post, but if you think you could help I will send it to you.

Thanks!!

Welcome to the forums!

I don't know exactly how it's done but most post pics using a free site like www.photobucket.com

I assume you have a wood fireplace mantel. Is it raw wood or has it been stained and varnished? Varnish/poly would need to be sanded and then coated with a solvent based primer.

I'm not crazy about painting brick [because it can't be reversed] but it can easily be done. Latex primer/paint is the coating of choice.

Here is a link to the picture

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w251/Rachel_lustig99/fireplace.jpg

thanks for the suggestions, I think the wood is stained.
I was thinking about just painting the wood the color of the walls which is a pale yellow?

Before painting you should clean to remove any wax, sand lighty and apply primer [either pigmented shellac or oil base - latex primer may not bond well to the wood's finish]

You can then apply 2 coats of the yellow. You should use an enamel paint [latex, oil base or waterborne] The flat wall paint would get dirty too easy plus a paint with a little sheen will look nicer.