How to Paint a Fireplace to Look Like Slate

Prepare the fireplace area. Place a drop cloth beneath your work space to avoid ruining your flooring surface. Mask off borders around the fireplace with painter's tape. Clean the fireplace surface that you will paint with warm, soapy water. Allow the surface to thoroughly dry. This will take at least a few hours. Providing an overnight drying time is your best bet for your project.

Apply a basecoat of paint. Choose a deep gray shade to simulate one of the most well-known slate colors. Pour the paint into a clean tray. Paint the gray around the edges or borders against the tape. Fill in the remainder of the fireplace using a paint roller. Allow the paint to dry according to the manufacturer's directions. Re-coat the entire area with a second layer of gray.

Create faux grout lines. This step is only necessary if you intend on having a mock slate tile look. There is no need to create lines if you plan on having a continuous or full slate style. Measure equal distance vertical lines across the entire length of your fireplace. Choose a distance size that meets your needs. Mark the top and bottom of the lines with a pencil or piece of chalk. Use a measuring tape or ruler and a level to create straight lines from the top to the bottom. Repeat the line drawing process with horizontal lines drawn across the fireplace. Paint over the lines with either a light gray or dark black contrasting color. Use a thin artist's brush for a neater look.

Choose additional colors of paint to create a mock slate look. Although slate is available in many designer shades, tiles and stones with hints of red, brown, orange and blue are popular palettes. Pour each color into its own separate tray or container. Ball or crumple a cloth rag to create a textured painting tool. Dip individual crumbled rags into each of the paint colors. Blot the paint onto the gray basecoat for a faux slate stone look. Apply the paint in an uneven manner, with larger and smaller areas of different colors to simulate the variations in real stone.