The Great Fireplace Remodel: Planked walls, Beam mantels, Built-out surrounds, and all that jazz.

Who's ready for some eye candy?  I finally pulled it together and cleaned up well-enough to snap some photos of the finished fireplace!  Well, it's not completely finished.  I still need to caulk some seams, but it looks done enough for now.  And here it is!

Isn't she lovely?  Before I show you any more, let's take a walk down memory lane.  This is what the house looked like when we signed our offer papers.  Peach.  Green marble.  Shiny fake yellow brass. But that light!  We knew it had potential.

Phase 1 was getting rid of that peach paint and ripping out the carpet.  It was brand new and pretty when we moved in, but the dogs trashed it very, very quickly.

Phase 2 ... we have a new laminate floor!  And curtains!  Those two things alone were a huge improvement, but when I pulled out the fireplace insert to paint over the brass, and then painted over the green marble, the room sky-rocketed out of 1990s and into 2015.  The mirror removal was an interesting process, and made me happy that we were planking above the fireplace instead of trying to perfectly repair all of that drywall.

I took measurements and meshed them with the vision I had stored in my brain in order to draw up the plans.  Brian made a few adjustments that would make the build more practical for himself along the way.

Brian worked so hard on this project.  I am kinda picky about things being just how I planned, and was such a trooper throughout the process.  For example, the mantel.  I wanted it to look like a beam from the front and sides, and he did a beautiful job!  

Eventually I'll share photos and descriptions of the process, but for now, let's all just look at pretty pictures.

I think Brian would say that his hardest task was running all of the wires behind the walls and through the fireplace surround.  I think I'm going to paint this old nightstand from Brian's Grandma that will house the electronics.  It needs a hole cut in the back so that we can actually put the electronics inside, but that'll happen eventually.  

Speaking of things that will happen eventually, we still have some caulking and paint touch-ups to do, but I can live with those for now.  Especially because when you stand back, you notice nothing but the beauty of the overall situation.  

Having the TV mounted on the wall frees up some floor space.  Seating arrangements in this room can sometimes feel tunnel-ish, but with the fireplace finished, the TV above it, and the couch and chairs facing each other, it feels like a cozy place to gather.  

It feels lovely.  And bright.  And cozy.  All of the good things!  It's so nice to have a space in the house that feels like "us".  

Painted Sink & Countertop {One Year Update!}.

Well, it's officially been one year since we originally painted our integral sink and countertop, and we're still thrilled with the results!  I still get lots of compliments on it, along with questions about how it's holding up, so I thought I'd write an update and share some photos.

As I said in the original post, this bathroom gets a lot of foot traffic, so I was originally a bit worried about wear and tear.  But I could not be more pleased with the condition of the countertop and sink.  It honestly looks just as good as it did on the day we finished!  

  

There is not a single scratch or spot of peeling paint on the entire countertop and sink.  The only "flaw" is a small, very faint orange circle from water sitting under the orange candle jar.  I tried to photograph it, but it was too faint to capture.  I've been too chicken to try scrubbing it with a Magic Eraser or anything like that, as I'd rather live with a barely noticeable ring than mess up the smooth finish!

On the topic of cleaning, I use a gentle bathroom cleaner, like Seventh Generation, for weekly cleaning.  But with 3 little boys, Clorox wipes also get used on the regular.  I was worried at first that Clorox wipes might be too harsh, but a couple each week for the last year have been just fine!

The faucet is still in perfect condition.  I was a little worried about the candles being hard to keep clean, but they're very easy to wipe up.  The fact that the C is sideways when the faucet is off drives me a little batty, but that is at the very bottom of Brian's to-do list.

In the above photo, you can see a little part where I couldn't get rid of the texture of the roller in the paint.  It's the only spot on the counter that isn't smooth, it's only noticeable from a certain angle, and it's been that way since the beginning, so it doesn't bother me!  Also, let's talk about the fact that we ran out of soap and only had ugly bottles left, so I decided to leave it out of the photos.  Fear not, we do, in fact, keep soap in the bathroom!

Are you thinking of painting your integral sink and countertop?  I have a few words of wisdom for you!

First, I definitely recommend it for sinks and counters, but I would be hesitant to do a shower or tub.  Most of the negative reviews of Rustoleum Tub & Tile paint that I've seen are from people who have painted tubs or showers.  I'm just not sure if the paint is designed to withstand the amount of water in a tub or shower.  We tried something similar in the boys' bathroom shower, but that is a completely different post for another day!  

Second, I cannot stress this enough ... follow the directions!!  I get it, they seem insanely redundant.  But I have to believe that they're there for a reason.  We sanded and Comet-ed and Lime-Away-ed til our heads were about to explode.  Here we are though, one year later with a fantastic looking countertop, so the work paid off!

I'm super insanely happy that we undertook this project.  The entire look of the bathroom, and makes it not only livable, but actually enjoyable until we have the cash flow to do a bigger remodel!  

DIY-ing MDF baseboards.

We have had new floors in the living room, dining room, and family room for 5 months now and we are still loving them.  In true cost-saving fashion, we tried to save the baseboards when Brian removed them before laying the floor, but they were in really rough shape.  Admittedly, my hubby is not the gentlest of creatures, but he was really trying to save these suckers.   Sadly, no matter how gently he tried getting them off, those suckers snapped like wafers.  

Brian put the flooring down and we lived without baseboards for 5 months.  The biggest challenge to living without baseboards was that the boys' K'nex, and Legos would roll into the crack and then I would have to dig it out.  After 5 months of that, I was d.o.n.e.

Deciding what kind of baseboards to install wasn't exactly easy.  I knew that I wanted something tall and fairly simple.  The moulding around our windows and doors is fairly decorative, so I didn't want baseboards that were too fancy.  It's just not my style.  I wasn't sure if I wanted something really simple or with a bit of flair.  After trolling the baseboard aisle at Lowe's, I brought home two 5.5 inch tall samples - one very simple and the other with a touch of curve to it.  We set them on the floor and lived with it for awhile, until I decided that the simple one was the way to go.  

I had a bit of sticker shock when researching these things.  We needed roughly 150 feet of baseboard moulding, meaning that we would need around $250 worth of MDF moulding.  Determined to pay less than that, I floated the idea of buying sheets of MDF and ripping them into baseboards.  Sure, we'd have to sand and prime them ourselves, but after waiting for 5 months for baseboards, I wasn't worried about the process taking a bit longer in order to save some cash.  

Brian purchased 3 sheets of 4'x8' MDF and ripped each into eight 6-inch tall boards.  We sanded the cut edges nice and smooth to prep for primer.  MDF dust is nasty stuff, so don't do what my husband does and wear a respirator!  MDF does, however, sand very easily, so this process went pretty quickly. 

I wanted to have the boards primed and fairly well painted before installing them so that I would only have to do touch-ups once on the wall.  MDF is essentially compressed sawdust, so it'll soak up liquid like a sponge.  In order to prevent this, we used an oil-based primer.  I used the remainder of a can of Kilz until that was gone, then moved onto Zinnser BIN; both worked well.  One thing I love about primer is that it dries insanely fast, but the texture of the dried primer bothered me.  It didn't necessarily look bad, but it was kinda rough.  I took a high grit sanding block and smoothed out the texture before moving on to paint.  

Can I just say that I LOVE the fact that Lowe's now carries Sherwin-Williams paint??  I'm a big S-W girl, but Lowe's is literally 2 minutes from my house.  Now I can get my very favorite paint closer to my house.  Yippee!!

Anyway, I sent Brian to Lowe's to grab a can of Ovation Paint+Primer Extra White in a Semi-gloss finish.  I like a little shine to my trim, especially in a house full of boys.  It's more durable and easier to clean.  Here's a tip - even when you want to use Extra White, ask them to tint it at the paint counter.  It seems to have much better coverage that way.  Brian was unaware of this little tidbit, so he just grabbed a gallon off of the shelf.  It took me 2 coats of paint to get good coverage, but my guess is that it would only have taken one coat with the extra tint in there.  Oh well, husband now knows!

Brian installed the baseboards using a nail-gun and compressor he borrowed from work.  The finish work is usually my job, so I told Brian not to bother with mitered corners, as I was going to caulk the cracks anyway.  

I have very, very little experience with caulking, but every tutorial I've ever read stresses how easy it is.  First up, gather your supplies - caulk gun, caulk, tape, and paper towels.  We just happened to have this caulk in the basement, so I went with it.  I have no complaints about it!

Next, use the painter's tape to create a barrier on your wall, very close to the top of the moulding.  I left barely any wall showing.  If you are caulking a surface that isn't white, you may want to tape the second surface as well.  But since our baseboards are white and I was using paintable caulk, I didn't bother with taping the baseboard.  Only work in 3-4 foot sections, because we want to be sure to take the tape off before the caulk dries.

Now, it's time for caulk.  Cut a small hole in the tip of the caulk tube.  Keep it small, and cut it on a diagonal.

 I found that just a light squeeze works well, and I moved the caulk gun fairly quickly.

As a newby, I was definitely not neat and tidy during this process.  But it's cool, because it still needed to be smoothed.

I took my finger and gently smoothed out the line.  Stock up paper towels for this part!  A little bit of warm water helps for stubborn gunk too.

When the caulk is nice and smooth, it's time to remove the tape.  You want to pull the tape at a 45 degree angle to get a nice crisp line.

Sit back, admire your nice lines, and then move on to the next section!

How pretty is that??  Once I caulked the top of the entire room, I moved on to caulking the floor seam.  I didn't take photos for that, because it was essentially the same process.  After some wood putty to fill the nail holes and a little bit of paint touch-ups, the baseboards are looking beautiful.  I'll share photos of the family room soon!

We definitely saved money doing it this way rather than the ready-to-install baseboards.  Instead of buying $250 worth of moulding, we spent $96 on 3 sheets of MDF.  We had to buy paint and nails either way, and we had primer and sand paper on hand, but even if we had bought those things, we still saved at least $100.  Pretty baseboards at a cheaper price ... I'm in love!!



**No affiliate links, and no affiliations with any products mentioned.  Just linking to things that work well for me!


Linking up with: A Pumpkin and a Princess, Artsy Fartsy Mama, Home Stories A-to-Z, A Glimpse Inside

Budget Closet Remodel {tackling the boys' closet}.

Our family is not an organized one by nature.  In order for a space to stay orderly, it has to be easy to do so.  Really, really easy.  If it's not, it ends up a big fat disaster.  The boys' closet was the perfect example of such a disaster.  

The boys have a great wardrobe, thanks to my wonderful relatives.  And their closet is more than big enough to accommodate clothing for 3 little boys.  But the way the closet was set up wasn't at all conducive to keeping it neat.

There was just one wire shelf set at a standard-ish height, leaving lots of wasted space both above and below it.  We also put the dresser in here to leave a little more floor space in their room for wrestling.  While I'm not a giant fan of wire shelving and would have loved to have taken it out completely, I also needed this makeover to cost very little money.  So reusing the shelving needed to happen!

Step one was to clean out the whole closet and start from scratch.  All of the clothes came out, and the shelving.  After patching the holes and repainting the closet, I started by re-installing the old shelving about a foot below the ceiling.  

I put the dresser on the other wall and installed the wire shelf that I had leftover from the coat closet remodel in it's place.  After adding 3 more shelves below the wire shelf, it was time to start adding clothes back in.

The dresser houses pajamas, t-shirts, and shorts - little boys' stuff on the left side of the drawers and Brennan's stuff on the right side.  There is room for a laundry basket to be tucked under the Brothers' shirts that are hanging next to the shelves.

Brennan's clothes are hanging on the back wall and the Brothers' on the left wall.  Polos, button-down shirts, and colored jeans and pants are all hung.  

Sweatshirts are in baskets on top of the dresser, because of course in Michigan it can be sweatshirt weather at the drop of a hat.  

Underwear, socks, and bathing suits are all in baskets on the very easy-to-reach shelves.  Jeans, sweatpants, and long sleeve t-shirts are all tucked into baskets that are a little easier for adults to reach.

Labels make it easy for the boys to find their clothes ... and for Daddy to find where to put clean laundry away.  Teehee.

This system is worlds easier to maintain.  The boys can reach the clothes that they most frequently need to dress themselves, and the clothes that they don't wear as often as still easy for Brian and I to get to.  There's even room for storage at the very top.  

And it was all very cheap!  We already had the paint, baskets, and wire shelving.  All we bought were the shelves and shelf brackets.  The project took roughly 2 days to complete, but honestly could have been completed in a day.  But you know, I have these little people running around my house who require a little bit of attention throughout the day.  It was well worth it for a closet that actually works!

Project list:
Wire shelves & accessories - already had
Paint - already had

6 ft laminate shelf - 12.98 (cut in half)

3 ft laminate shelf - 7.48

6 shelf brackets - 1.88 each

Total spent - $31.74

Dreaming of ... planked fireplace walls.

I've been sailing through a few little projects here and there.  Accomplishing something always makes me feel ... accomplished.  Ha.  But I can't help but feel that by finishing the small fun things, I'm putting the bigger ones on the back-burner.  And it turns out, Brian was feeling the same way.

So we decided to sit down and make a list of everything we need and/or want to do in each room in the house.  From there, we'll try to focus on finishing one room at a time.  We are both dying to do the kitchen, but that's going to be expensive so it's going to be last on the list.  To perk ourselves up a bit, we decided to focus on a room that's already come a long way, and that will pack a big punch without too much expense.  

And that room is the family room.  

We spend a lot of time in this room.  And we have already made a decent amount of improvements - Painted walls, new flooring, updated fireplace, curtains.  

But that mirror has been driving us both crazy since Day 1.  And I hate that TV stand with the fire of 1000 suns.  It's huge and has sharp corners and we're itchin' to get rid of it and mount the TV on the wall.  

While we're making plans, I've been gathering inspiration photos from around the web.  Here's what I know - we're definitely doing some kind of white planking where the mirror currently is hanging, we'll definitely mount the TV, and we'll definitely do some kind of box beam mantle.  

via The Lettered Cottage

via Thrifty Decor Chick

via Proverbs 31 Girl

via Classy Clutter

via The Inspired Room

So much eye candy!  It makes me drooley.  I'm currently working on some mockups in Photoshop to show to Bri so that we can make a grand plan.  And then comes figuring out how to get that beast of a mirror off of the wall.