The fireplace design

Hello everybody! I’m back home sweet home after being away in Atlanta last week. Another successful Haven Conference is in the books!! Thanks to all of you who attended and all of our vendors and sponsors who help to make it a success! Every year I leave feeling so humbled and blessed. I came home and crashed hard – and then my boy got sick so we’re still nursing his bug. Back to normal! :)

Today I’m sharing the process I went through to decide on our new fireplace design. THIS is the fun part for sure. Usually I’d spend months pouring over photos to figure out exactly what I wanted, but this time I had to hurry it up a bit. The fireplace happened a lot faster than I thought it would because we had to have that figured out to move the gas line and lights.

Thankfully that built was the majority of the cost in this project – from here on out it’s not too bad. And even though I had to hurry up my normal process, I’ve known what my “dream” fireplace looks like for years anyway. ;) I just wanted to find some pics to show the guys.

There were a couple things I was considering to change up the look even more. I love the look of a grand fireplace and as I was looking through inspiration photos I noticed that the ones that really struck me had two things – a hearth of some kind and they were raised up off the floor a bit.

Our fp has always been down to the floor and has never had a hearth:

I’ve always thought raising up the box and adding a hearth would make it feel grander, but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do either one. I started doing some research to see if it was something I REALLY wanted to make happen.

This was my original inspiration:

It had both – the fireplace itself was raised up a bit and there was a flat hearth. I’ve always thought both things make it feel more substantial.

But then the more I looked at photos, the more I realized most of the ones I was drawn to may have have had one of those features, but rarely both. Kelly’s gorgeous fireplace had a hearth but the actual fireplace was to the ground (because it’s wood burning):

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Layla’s beautiful fireplace redo had a simple black hearth and another fireplace that was low to the ground:

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Again, their’s was low because there was a cast iron firebox inside initially, but I did like the look.

I finally found a gas insert that had a small hearth and was down low too:

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The more I looked the more I realized maybe a raised insert and big hearth wasn’t the look I was going for. ;) And then as things started to come together I noticed that adding a tiled hearth was going to eat into our family room space even more. I’ve mentioned that the new room will be much bigger, but it will be long and skinny. That width the hearth would take up is valuable space.

And I looked into raising the gas insert but there were two issues – the venting in the back would have to be replaced and it would mean the whole thing would stick out even more. I mean, it’s already a beast. And we’re moving our TV over the fireplace so even another four to five inches in height would make our TV really high. As it is now I think it will be great, but any more and it would be awkward.

So after a little more research I decided to nix both. The added cost and problems weren’t worth it. I felt a ton better about that decision after seeing this gorgeous fireplace redo:

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No hearth and the insert is to the ground – and it’s beautiful.

And when I found this one I saved it to my files and named it “exactly.”:

(source)

This is actually very similar to how ours will look, at least the fireplace and wall part above. I’ve been planning to “sink” the TV in just a bit and this gave me a good idea of how it will look. My plan is that you won’t see that inset part though – the bracket will go inside and the TV will sit over it:

As a reminder, here’s my inspiration for the look of the built ins and fireplace set up:

And this is what they had done as of early last week:

Lots of progress has happened since!

This week I’ll start caulking, filling and priming the entire thing. I still have to figure out what tile I want to use on the surround:

Those are just a few options – the first and third from the left are my favorites but that herringbone looks hard to install – lots of little bitty cuts that I’m not sure I want to attempt. It would look AMAZING though, right?

Anyway, I hope by the end of this week I’ll have the whole thing at least primed. Can’t wait to show you the progress! We’re almost to the point where it’s all up to me – the guys are finishing up the fireplace details today, working on the lighting in the room and then the audio/visual guys are coming to move everything. I’m a little nervous about that – hope it all goes smoothly. Then the floors can be patched and I can get moving on the walls and paint.

So far so good – I’m doing OK with the mess so far. Since there’s not really much left for the contractors to do I can see the light. :) I think we’ll only have another week or so of construction and then the smaller stuff starts.

Do you have a dream fireplace in your head? I’m so excited I get to see mine come to life!!

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DIY stencil (fail and save!)

Hello all! I hope your weekend was a great one! Ours was jam packed – we did a ton of family stuff, I got to hang with friends quite a bit and we went to a couple Fourth festivities as well. It was one of those weekends that is exhausting but leaves you feeling so incredibly blessed. I am a lucky lady.

So I didn’t have time to do much DIY this weekend but I did finish up a small project I started last week. This one started one way (a bit of a fail) and ended up another – I was determined to salvage it because I loved the look.

It all began when I found this platter at Target a few weeks back:

I think it was from the Nate Berkus line? I loved the arrow design in gold and knew I could recreate it for cheaper. It wasn’t too bad at $25 but my constant “Pushaw, I could TOTALLY do that for cheaper” usually wins out. And one day on a HomeGoods trip I found a large platter on clearance for $8 to try this myself – score!

Then I got started making my DIY stencil. I used my trusty FrogTape® to do it – I cut a piece long enough to span the whole platter, then laid the tape down on a cutting board:

I just cut it freehand – this is not a time to be picky. There are times when I want something to look “perfect” but most times I like it to look a little more organic, so the different sizes and spacing didn’t bother me at all.

It only took me about 15 minutes to cut them all out – it was actually quite soothing. :) Sometimes I love a detailed project like this, it calms me.

After my “stencil” was done I laid it across the platter:

It was going to look so good!

And then I realized the paint I was using wasn’t going to work. It was way too thin and didn’t stick right at all – I was SO bummed. I mean, come on – it was going to look so similar to the other platter. And mine was even bigger! But…fail.

I was about to scrap the whole thing but I realized I could use the arrow design somewhere else to add a little somethin.’ Arrows are HUGE right now, right? I was at a jewelry party yesterday and bought an arrow ring. I see them so much lately.

Anyway, I have a little pen holder in my office that I thought would look cute with a little embellishment so I decided to try the stencil there:

My arrows were spaced out so I had to tear the long strip of tape up and make them work closer together.

I used gold Rub n Buff and it took no time at all to add a little bling:

I only did every other panel because I didn’t want it to get too busy. I flipped the tape every other one so some go up, some down:

I love it! I have a few gold/brass accents in here so it ties in nicely. I didn’t realize till after I was done that it is the same look as my FrogTape trash can too:

So there you go – quick and easy and free. I was determined to put my little arrows to use somewhere and I think this is a sweet little spot. I have to say I must have pulled that tape off of the surfaces at least ten times and it still stuck at the end and didn’t tear apart even with the delicate design. I was quite impressed.

Have you incorporated the arrows in your home at all? Are they still trendy? Usually I get on the trends way after the fact but I’m thinking I’m still good on this one. ;)

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Home tour eye candy, part 2

Hey hey all! How are ya? I’m back with the second part of the home-a-rama tour I visited last week. I showed you the first two homes (including my favorite) last Friday, and today I have three more. Sit down with some coffee cause there are a TON of photos!

The third house was the most modern design of all of them and I actually quite liked it. It is a beautiful home:

I knew the inside would match and I loved most of the interior design as well. The front living room had gorgeous wood beams, a beautiful wall treatment above the fireplace and a really cool wood wall behind the TV:

LOVE that wall!:

Reminded me of my wood wall. A little. :)

This kitchen was the only non-white one of the bunch:

The backsplash was a little busy for me but it was still lovely. (By the way, this house had utility rugs down everywhere to protect the floors so that’s what you see in a lot of these pics.)

The basement was HUGE and I loved this little alcove with the wood planked walls:

It tied in beautifully with the kitchenette/bar area.

As you can see there were a lot of well done wood accents in this home. The outdoor porch ceiling was divine:

The modern look carried through to the outdoor furniture as well.

The master bath floor was different – the two-tone design made a big impact:

I don’t think I could do this in my home but it was perfect in this one.

This wall of bubble tile behind the tub was AWESOME too:

I freaking love that bubble tile. A house at last year’s tour had it as well and it’s so fun!

I noticed the island in the closet had a lovely wood countertop, and then when I looked closer I realized it was one a DIYer could easily put together:

Even in these million dollar houses there were little touches that were attainable. :)

The next house was the most traditional from the outside:

And definitely had the most color on the inside. The decorator mixed a lot of color and pattern throughout. The dining room was really stunning in person:

The two story family room was done full out – floor to ceiling drapes, tons of molding and a lot of patterns mixed together:

It was a bit much for me but really well done. Those two story rooms can be a major pain in the butt to decorate, and I love how they used molding to make more of a statement.

I just probably would have done one or two walls instead of all:

The coffered ceiling was stunning too:

The kitchen was traditional as well, with white cabinets and a brown and cream backsplash:

I loved the little touches like the transom over the pantry door. I love transoms and have considered adding some in our house.

The lights over the island were gorgeous:

And the outside patio was by far one of my favorites:

I’ve been eyeing those outdoor poufs at Target since March but can’t figure out where they would work in our house. ;)

I thought it was cool how they constructed a huge bench with pavers:

It was a fun element on the patio for sure.

This breakfast room right off the patio was one of my favorite rooms in the house:

Do you see the long window bench along the back? Just dreamy.

I loved how the designers used paint and painter’s tape creatively in this house. This design would take some time to get right but it makes a HUGE impact for very little money:

It’s hard to go wrong with a simple stripe – I loved the these two colors together in the basement family room:

And the basement bathroom had another simple and inexpensive stripe treatment:

The bar/kitchenette in this basement was beautiful and you can see they pulled those colors and stripes through again:

Those lights! I love them.

I liked this birch wallpaper paired with the dark wood bench seating too:

Basements are FUN – you can take chances in a space like this!

One more simple idea I loved – this “art” in one of the kid’s rooms – it’s just molding, black paint and wood letters from the craft store:

You could do names or “eat” in a kitchen (with red letters, how fun!) – so easy and cheap!

The last house was my second favorite – the outside was cottagey and adorable:

If you can call six thousand square feet “adorable.” Sure you can. :)

They did a cool transom in some of the doorways:

Lovely right? I thought that was a really cool detail.

This wallpaper in the powder room was deep and dramatic and I LOVED it:

Again, if you want to go bold a powder room is another great place to do it!

I thought the family room and kitchen matched the outside of the house perfectly. I love when a design carries from the outside in:

The detail on the mantel was just lovely.

I love the idea of using an expensive tile you love in a small dose above the stove:

It’s a great way to pull in some color – and a lot easier to change out later (compared to the entire backsplash) if your taste changes over time.

I loved how they put the area around a doorway to good use:

I think the detailed transom is a little much there – but I love taking advantage of space like that!

The backyard was another favorite – there were a couple levels and I loved the organic feel to everything:

When you walked up the stairs this outside room was open to a hearth room off the kitchen. All of it was SO beautiful:

And when you walk through the hearth room you get a lovely view of the living room we already saw:

The basement was another beauty – I think there may have been a sliding barn door in every house! But this was my favorite one: 

That’s some great wine storage too. :)

I noticed the floor and had to take a pic – they are the wood looking tile but I’ve never seen quite this finish before. It was like a distressed, linen-type look. I loved them:

I’ve seen the wood tiles before but I think I like these even more. They looked like real wood to me.

One last idea that I liked in this house – there wasn’t really a big, dedicated mud room space, so they created one with very little square footage:

Again, I loved the look of it wrapped around the doorway. Funny how you find great space-saving ideas in these huge houses!

Whew! That’s it for the tour! I believe it’s still going on this week, today through the weekend in Westfield, IN if you are interested in going. I’m a home addict and I loved walking through them. :)

**House one was designed and built by Hoss Homes and decorated by Kittles (Tom Myers). House two was designed and built by M/I Homes and decorated by Mary Cook and Associates. The final home was built by Heartwood Custom Homes and decorated by Everything Home LLC.

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