The final result. I LOVE it!

The final result. I LOVE it! We have a few things to still put back but we are waiting for the mantel to completely dry.

Tonight Dave finished up the fireplace paint job. Today’s work was mostly just correcting the bleed-under at the tape lines.

(That’s a whole other rant: we have tried EVERYTHING and can’t seem to find a masking tape that can completely avoid bleed-under. We invested in the good “Frog Tape” and we’ve tried the 3M “Blue” tape. Those run $6-8 per roll but I think we do a better job just not taping at all and being VERY careful. /rant).

Jacob thought the fireplace was looking very bright as Dave was working on it, but once we put the bookcases and white baskets back in place, he seemed to warm to the color.

For reference, here is a “before” picture:

Our next (small) DIY project, freshening up our fireplace.

And for fun, here’s a “really” before picture, from when we walked through the house right after going into contract in May 2013:

DSC_2626

From May 2013. No, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you. The walls were “blotchy yellow” on purpose. Some sort of feather painting thing, I guess.

Many thanks to my dear husband for making this happen.

04. April 2016 · Comments Off on Colorado Discoveries 48: Colorado Springs Labor Day Liftoff Balloon Festival · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , ,
Okay, so I was a bit of a madwoman photographing all the balloons.

Okay, so I was a bit of a madwoman photographing all the balloons.

In case you hadn’t noticed, I don’t write quite as much as I used to. Blame my full time work, but you can also blame this lack of motivation issue that I have these days. After a full day of work, I tend to come home, make dinner, and then not want to do much.

This evening I was cleaning up the photos on my iPhone and realized how many things we’ve done over the past couple seasons that I have failed to share here. Those of you who follow me on Facebook have seen some of this before, but in case you just follow my blog, let’s catch up with some of the things we did. More »

03. April 2016 · Comments Off on DIY Fireplace Transformation: Work in Progress · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,
After one coat of gel stain and one coat of primer. But the difference is profound.

After one coat of gel stain and one coat of primer. But the difference is profound.

I thought you might like to see our progress. Frankly, I haven’t done much personally with this project. Jacob unloaded the bookcases for us, and Dave is doing everything else. More »