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.

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 »

20. March 2016 · Comments Off on DIY Fireplace Transformation · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

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

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

We’re at it again. Dave and I had been contemplating our fireplace for quite some time…with some of other changes happening on the main floor of our house, we wondered what we could do to make our mundane, builder-grade fireplace more modern-looking. More »