Fireplace Makeover 2!

Back in 2011 I did a mini fireplace makeover. You can check it out here. It helped, but I still did not love this fireplace.  I hated the orange/rust color in the stones.  I'm still not quite sure why anyone would put orange/rust stones in the same house with pink tile. Yes, we still have the same pink tile from when the house was built.  I had toyed with the idea of painting or whitewashing the stone for a long time.  Several seem to be of the opinion that it will lower the house value for resale.  Well, I've lived here nearly 10 years and I don't care anymore. I want it to look pretty to me, not some potential, possibly, one day buyer. I figured it couldn't possibly look any worse than it already did. So I did it. I whitewashed the stone.

First I cleaned the stone.  I just used my normal cleaner and made sure to get as much dust and sand off as possible. 
Next I mixed my paint and water.  I just used some flat paint I had on hand.  I used a 1:3 ratio. 1 part paint to 3 parts water. 
Now for the work.  I brushed the paint on and waited just a bit before wiping it back off.  I did this until I got the coverage I was looking for.  Be careful of drips!

It's looking much better, but I still have plans to tweak it just a bit.  I plan on painting the insert again, but this time with white.  Hubby says he would like the stones to have a hint more ivory to them, so eventually I will do an ivorywash. ;) I'm also thinking of using a satin finish instead of the flat finish.  But, in the meantime I am liking this so much more than that ugly orange/rust color.  Did I mention I hated the orange/rust?

Now for the pics!