Evolution of a Fireplace

Who knew deciding on a fireplace layout could be so difficult!?   Or that you would have to go online to order a mantel and surround (my gawd, how did people find stuff in the 90's?)?  The best deal found for mantels and surround was on the  heyneedle.com website.  We decided on the solid wood Pearl Mantel in the Williamsburg model, which had the 50" interior width that we needed.  The website also boasted free shipping and I found a 12% off coupon code.  YaHoo!

After a very quick delivery the mantel had arrived safe and sound- and our next big step was figuring out and designing the surround interior layout: tile, faux brick, painted brick, stacked stone/slate??  Which one would look best with holiday trappings? Both of us liked the stacked slate (it grows wild here in Idaho).  There was also a nice mix of browns that I felt would complement the wood flooring we had already purchased.

It was from this point the tides turned and we ran up against some marital conflict.  From the beginning I was all about the traditional horizontal rock/slate surround configuration.  *not mentioned was the idea of an arch and keystone design above the fireplace opening- our plate was full enough and I did not want to choke Joe dear with another idea bite :)* J's thoughts for the surround was taking the stacked slate for a lateral walk around the opening (less 'cuts' approach).  We were both in disagreement.  The lateral instillation would look great for a whole wall fireplace with a slab mantel above the fireplace opening, definitely a post modern look in my opinion.  I kept angling for the traditional look to stay in line with the rest of the house. 

In the end tradition won, and what took us a week to decide on, was finished in three hours (turns out it was not so terribly hard to make the 'cuts' after all).

Here are pictures of the decision making process...

Before and After Outdoor Lights

The original minuscule garage lights looked awful.  A clear box engulfing a singular bulb.  It looked as though the front of the house was suffering from acne.  So with a huge baby step in the direction of curb appeal, the old outside lights were replaced with the cheapest and most enormous exterior lights the our local Home Depot store had to offer.   **In the store the lights looked monstrous (I had a moment of self doubt), but on the outside of the garage doors they look more medium in size....whew!

Powder Room Project

I fell for a Moroccan stencil I discovered online.  Now I want to stencil everything (walls, curtains, carpets, etc...).  Joe is horrified.  I also have an antique mirror I've picked up along the way, which I think will go nicely with the crystal beaded bling bling quasi chandelier. The stenciled colors are Zen & Lotus Leaf.

This is what I have for the powder room so far-

Back to the Coloring Room

The original interior house colors of red, green, and baby mustered poop yellow are now buried under new layers of paint.  In the end we decided to use the premium plus paint by Behr.  It is a bit more costly, but you don't have to use as much paint.

Interestingly the colors I picked out (except for the Zen, oh and the Hummus yellow in the playroom), are all so similar you barely notice the transition of color from room to room.  The goal was light, bright, and neutral.  I would rather showcase what is on the walls (whatever that maybe), rather than the walls themselves.

Colors: Aged Beige, Vintage Linen, Roman Plaster (have gotten a bunch of complements on that one), Zen, Humus and for the ceiling Polished.

Let there be light!

Here are some pics of our newly installed lights.  At the moment we are waiting the delivery of a couple more fixtures, the master bath faucets, and the fireplace mantel and surround.  The new hydronic heater is also being installed this week, so as soon as that is in place we can get to work acclimating the hardwood flooring before instillation. 

As for the chosen lighting fixtures I kind of went lighting fixture wild.  The fixtures might not be terribly cohesive, but I love them none the less :-).

Master Bath Antique Clawfoot Tub Makeover

I am having a hard time deciding on what to do with our craigslist purchased vintage iron clawfoot tub.  It was all black when we bought it.  I felt black was too heavy of a color for our space and wanted to lighten it up a bit.  So I stenciled a section with the moroccan stencil and extra paint from the powder room project.  It looked pretty good until I tried wrapping it around the tub's curves- it went all crazy from that point.  For a quick fix I continued with the extra paint and covered it up and painted the feet white.  Meanwhile Joe keeps asking when I am going to finish painting the tub (his thoughts being Wonder Bread plain- decoded man speak = 'you are going to paint the tub white right?')

Personally I was loving the green/blue and white.  Now I am waffling with leaving it as is, try another stencil, or doing an overlay of white crackle paint with the blue/green peeking through.  I also plan on shabby chic-ing the white feet with a bit of light sanding. *maybe I'll white crackle paint over a stencil! :)*

Master Bath Update

Tile low-down, the pick Montagna Cortina at our local Home D. store.  Our choice decided on by the fact that there were a lot of tile options in that style, and it did not look like they were going to run out anytime soon.  I really loved some of the natural stone options, but keeping up with waterproofing and maintenance of el natural stone would not be following my current mantra of the 'k.i.s.s.' rule.  Here are some Joey did it pics.

The waterproof kerdi barrier was found on ebay.  We picked an epoxy grout (in linen) to further help with waterproofing which is supposedly anti mold/mildew too.