I know that so many of you feel the same way BUT .... where did the year go ?! For my family it's been a year of incredible change and we are so happy to be in our new/old home ...... and to have had Scott home for Christmas made this long year so worth all the struggles to get here.
We all have plans, goals, dreams and resolutions for the new year ...... I want to do so many things ..... I have so many plans for 2014 and I cant wait to share them day by day with you here !!
Though my posts here will continue to be mostly paper related, I am going to add in a post here and there with my home updates !! We have LOTS planned for this great house ..... some are big and some are small. Some we will be hiring out (think electrical ;) ..... but we are pretty excited to try our hands at some of the renos ourselves !!
To start off this exciting year, I have a few pics of before and after of our fireplace. I have never had a mantle in any of our houses and part of the appeal of this living room for me was this great brick fireplace ... I knew I could make it my own and I'm so excited it was ready in time to decorate for Christmas !!!
Clearly it was NOT my style and in desperate need of an update but I could see the potential. We quickly took the wood 'mantle' off (it was only held in with 2 screws) and the brick was painted the 2nd day ....
We hired a fabulous carpenter to create the mantle that I've been waiting for ..... He was amazing and took my words and turned them into this great floating shelf above the natural gas fireplace.
I am more of a silver girl, so I bought some high heat spray paint and covered all the gold pieces on the fireplace with black to give it the solid look I wanted.
I compromised with Scott with this TV. I wanted this room to not have a TV in it, but since we have to develop the basement we needed to have it upstairs for now. I am happy that the carpenter was able to create a wood panel behind the mantle to hide all the cords.
We are still deciding what we want on either side (i am open to suggestions :)) ..... I considered full built ins, but am re-thinking that a bit ..... I've got time !!! DEFINITELY not moving any time soon - i LOVE this house :))
Decorating this space for the holidays was so fun. I have moved and added and taken away decor since the day it was installed. This is how it was for Christmas but I can already see changes that I will make for next year !!
If you follow my Instagram or Facebook, you will see LOTS of pics of this through the coming year as I change it up for every season, holidays and just because too :))
I hope you all have an amazing New Years Day and can't wait to share 2014 with you .....
TFL ..... Talk soon.
That looks great, Jennifer! I also used the high heat flat black spray paint to cover the brass areas on our fireplace. It really makes an impact! Love the white brick here too... great renovation!
ReplyDeleteDid you take the pieces off the fireplace to paint them? My Mom has a little brass strip on her fireplace that she would like to paint but it won't come off. She's concerned about aerosol paint and the pilot light so she's living with it for now. The bricks on your fireplace look fantastic painted white!
ReplyDeleteOOOOhhhhh! I like it!!! Looks really good!
ReplyDeleteAwe, thanks girls !! I really love how little things like paint can change the look of a fireplace Andrea :))
ReplyDelete...... Yes, Karen - all the pieces were taken off the fireplace and I sprayed them outside. Some were magnetic and some I had to use a screwdriver to remove. I wonder if there is an option of painting it on with a brush rather than spray can ?! Though with the fireplace AND pilot light off would spraying it work - not sure. I bet you can google it to find out though :)) good luck .......