Thursday, October 16, 2008

On the home front...

Early this past summer, toward the beginning of this blog, I showed this picture of my living room fireplace. Don't worry~ I'm not doing a re-run...not exactly anyway! :) (You can see that I had tried different colors out on the wall, back when I was still deciding which color to choose.)



I had explained my dilemma with this fireplace~ that it had always bothered me because it was not symmetrical. If you look closely, you can see that the brick is not even on both side of the mantel. My plan was to remove the extra brick on the right side, to "even it out" (which would be about one foot width of brick, from floor to ceiling)...I still have not done this. And though it's true I am a "die-hard Fix it", do even I really want to do this?

This really was originally a very sad fireplace. It was red brick, but very dirty. I cleaned, primed and painted the brick, and we added the mantel. Although I have always wanted a whole fireplace surround, I felt that might overemphasize its being "uneven". I thought the only solution was to remove the brick I didn't want...but cutting the brick so there is a clean edge will be tricky.

Okay, if anyone is actually still reading this (and you deserve an award for patience if you are) this is where I need some advice. What would you do if you were me? Would you leave it like it is, and just add the fireplace surround anyway, or would you remove the foot of extra brick? Or is there a better, easier way to achieve a more even look? I know that even considering attempting this might seem crazy! I have a couple of weeks before I need to decide on this, which is good, because I simply don't know what to do yet! :) Any advice at all would be much appreciated! :)

Okay, here's something a bit more exciting...here are the two colors I wanted to use in this room, but I didn't know which color would be the dominant color (wall color) and which one would be the accent color.




I have finally decided that I am going with the second color of green from the top. It is called "Velvet Leaf", and it is a simply luscious color! It is bright, but we have two huge windows in there and it needs something very vibrant or else the color just gets swallowed up by all the light! :) Either the first or second raspberry from the top with be the accent color in the room, or maybe both, with touches of butter yellow and a lot of white! The hallways will be the lightest color of green, which is called "Garden Room". So, what do you think?

It really is starting to come together now, and I am SO excited to see it all finished up! Saturday we'll texture the ceilings, and then I can prime/paint them, then start on the walls! I can't wait to paint the walls; it's one of my favorite things to do! :)

Well, I just thought I'd share a little more of what is going on with the home improvement side of things. Hopefully by now I haven't bored you to tears! :)
I hope you are all having a great week. Aren't you SO glad it's Friday tomorrow?
Yea! I'm so happy! :)


11 comments:

the undomesticated wife said...

I think the paint will look nice! I love earth tones, especially green. I have a green similar to the bottom one (though ours is called Clover or something..by Behr) in our office.

I don't know what you could do with the fireplace. I wonder why it was built that way? Maybe just buy a huge verical piece of art or a tall vase with tall pieces of bamboo or something to camo it. LOL

Unknown said...

I am sorry I really don't have any suggestions except maybe taking down some of the brick.

I love the colors!

Home as Hobby said...

Have you thought about extending your mantel to be even with the width of the brick & then getting a larger fireplace screen to make it look even? Then, when you wanted to use the fireplace, you could just move the screen to the right. Just a thought!

Darlene said...

I am no help at all with your fireplace...sometimes you wonder why builders built things the way they did?!?

I think those colors are going to be beautiful in there!! Can't wait to see it painted!

Ms. Tee said...

I really like the painted brick!

Maybe you could put something tall on the right side, to fill up the space? Your paint choices are pretty, too. :)

WheresMyAngels said...

It would bug me if I didn't take down the bricks. Course, I am not the type of person to attack that type of job, so I would just be happy with it bothering me.

Jeni said...

That is tuff. I would leave it if it were me....that's too much work. Do you like the shutter look? You lean one up against there and maybe even hang a few decorations it?

the undomesticated wife said...

I have a blog award for you, come and pick it up when you can! :)

Our Complete Family said...

Hey Jenni! I'm here! I had taken a leave of absence for the most part but am thrilled to be back and catching up! I like your paint choices. They are so fun and spunky! Fireplaces...what headaches! Ours was horrible and dirty and nothing worked. We had to paint it and then ordered new doors and Jason built a surround for it b/c it only had a cheapo piece of wood across the top that was barely attached! I'll have to email you a pic like the other ones I sent! But, don't hold your breath girl b/c I still have to mail your goody to you!!! ;) I know, I know, slower than mollases am I!!! Hugs~ Les

Our Complete Family said...

Oh, I agree w/ the folks above that said to put something tall there to distract from it being lopsided...that's a good idea! A tall pottery vase or something with tall pieces of something in it!!! Or something leaning in that spot... Decisions, Decisions, right?!?

trish said...

Hi Jenni!
I like your fire place! Truly. I would maybe place something to the right for balance sake, but once you have the paint on the walls, it will really pop! I can't wait to see your finished project. :o) You have chosen such nice colors.
Sincerely ~ Tricia Anne