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.

Exterior Paint

I am going to have to dig out my high waters.  We are going to be using Flood Advanced Solid Stain in Sand Dollar for the cedar shingles. (guess we kinda have an aquatic theme shaken) And will find a similar match in that color with Behr exterior paint (that is the hope anyway).

We dipped a shingle into Flood's Sand Dollar to try it out.  When dried it was a bit lighter than the sample in the brochure.  Lighter is okay, but it would be nice if they had a darker shade in the same hue, just to check out and compare.  There were some nice grey options, unfortunately I felt the dark brown (lovely metal) roof would clash something awful with that color scheme.

Poor Joe just spent the entire day dipping half a flat of shingles and has declared that the rest are being returned and we are not shingling the upper back side of the house now.  We shall see what tomorrow brings :)

I went hunting to find examples of what the contrast will be like between the white trim and similar brown roof.  The pic of the house with shutters is in a Behr paint brochure that has a house similar in color (aged parchment) with a brown roof.  *the color also reminds me of Bourdeaux's Butt Paste- our number one go to for diaper rash*

The current plan is to have shingles all the same color with white trim, and dark brown shutters.  I am also leaning towards white carriage garage doors with a white pergola trellis above the doors, framed by wisteria climbing the auto entrance. 

Hardiplank Cheat

A brilliant thought was presented to us, a low cost budget hardiplank idea!  The plan (for now) is to install hardiplank on the front and back of the remodel and paint the existing side siding to match.  After refinancing and getting the current unconventional loan situation reconfigured we'll revisit the side siding and swap it out with the hardiplank product. 

Here are a couple of before and in the process pics...

Latest pics of progress

Drywall in taped, mudded, and drying.  Today texturing then priming, and this weekend if all is dry the first coat of color will hit will hit the walls....maybe next week tile work and floor instillation!

A window today, a fireplace tomorrow ..

We decided to replace the small barely functioning off centered window and replace it with a gas fireplace.  The wall to the left was also bumped towards the fireplace a foot to create a much needed hallway to the pantry/utility room and access to the newly configured powder room.  Previously the w/c was located off of the kitchen and there was a diagonal path inside the restroom to a door on the opposite wall to the utility room.  So you had to walk between the sink and la toilet to reach the other room.

We decided to relocate the sink creating a smaller (6' x 4'.5") room that now opens to the hallway that is accessible from the kitchen and ends at the pantry door.  There was much controversy regarding the potty room.  Mr.  Joe was opposed to restrooms located off of kitchens, but after tearing down the shared living room/ bathroom wall and utility room/ living room wall it was decidedto that if we bumped the wall over a foot we could have a decent hallway- (We had a nanosecond thought of loosing the hallway wall and leaving it all open to the living room, but it seems the overall majority were conceded about privacy *fart smells & sounds* hehehe.)  

Before and after french doors

The two sets of french doors on both levels have been removed.  Now the kitchen and living room are opened to each other as well as the old upstairs deck which is now opened to the master suite. 

Wall down beam up...

The studs are gone, the support beam is up, and so far doing its job keeping the second floor on the second floor :)  Before and after.