Fireplace Refresher

It's been some time (3 months, actually) since I last posted.  I apologize.  But I can't promise to post more often because honestly, life is nuts.  But I'll try.

Anyway, in case you can't remember what our family room looked like prior to demolition, this is it.  Light wood floors, dated wall colors and scalloped cornice, a door to a screened-in porch, and a brick fireplace.  None of that is here anymore but today I'm going to focus on that fireplace.

Several years ago I saw a Crate & Barrel ad that had a whitewashed wood fireplace wall.  I LOVED that look and the image was burned into my brain forever.  I wanted that fireplace wall.  I coveted the whitewash wood.  It had to be mine.

So here was all this brick - an entire wall of it.  The brick really wasn't bad looking, but it did make the room feel a bit dark and heavy.  I convinced Cory that this would be the perfect wall to turn into my Crate & Barrel dream, and he went with it.  This decision didn't come without a bit of controversy though.  Some of our family members thought the brick was great and that it would be a shame to cover it up.  They let me know their thoughts and that was fine.

But I didn't care what other people thought.  I knew what I wanted and I went for it.

The first step to transforming the fireplace wall was taking down the wooden mantel.

My handsome husband and his friend sledgehammer took care of that in a matter of a few minutes.

See that wooden box the sledgehammer is resting on?  That box covered up the gas line to the fireplace.  I really don't know why such a large box was needed to cover up the hole in the floor and the hose (pipe?) that connects to the gas log, but it had to go too.

We had to come up with a creative solution to hide the gas line but it turned out to be no big deal.

This was the room once it was totally stripped down to its bare bones.  It's ready to get pretty!

Cory and I laid new bamboo flooring in the room to establish a base for the new fireplace.  Then a couple of guys attached furring strips to the bricks.  That was loud.  LOUD.  I'm glad I didn't have to hang around the house that day and listen to that process.

The doorway to what used to be a screen-in porch and is now a mud room presented a tiny dilemma as we covered the brick.

We no longer have a door in that opening since that is where the addition to the house begins.  So the entire door frame had to be removed, and that meant we had a "raw" brick, insulation, and new framing end to deal with.  The carpenters decided it would be best to trim it all out in wood so it can withstand any bumps and wear and tear that come with doorways.

So the doorway was trimmed out in wood and the rest of the furring strips went up.

 

 

While the guys were getting the fireplace ready for its transformation, I had a major project to tackle.  Our contractor found a big ole' bunch of reclaimed wood for the fireplace.  It had lots of character and each board had a different grain and look.  It was awesome.  My job was to whitewash every one of those boards.  Don't be fooled - that pile of wood was BIG and the task was anything but small.

 

I read a couple tutorials online about the best method to whitewash wood.  In the end I kind of took bits of advice from each tutorial and did my own thing until I discovered what I liked.

 

 

 I purchased a quart of flat white paint and mixed it with water in a 1:1 ratio.  That was still a little too "painty" so I added a splash more water to thin it out some more.

 

 

Most of the tutorials I read said to brush on the paint / water mixture and then wipe it off with a rag.  So I did that with the help of Sasha for a bit, but I discovered that I really like the look of the wood before we wiped off the paint.  When we wiped it off the wood looked too dark for my taste. 

We played around with a few boards until we found a system that worked for Sasha and me.  We would paint on a coat of the mixture, let it sit while we painted more boards, then go back over them with a second coat.

 

The photo above shows what they looked like after one coat.  They are definitely whitewashed, but not light enough for what I had in mind.

Sasha helped me until we had to pack everything up for the night and head home.  We made good progress that evening but there were still many boards that needed attention.

I believe it was the next evening when my sister Becky offered to help while our kids were at church.  So we mixed up some paint and water and brushed away . . . in our nice jeans and sweaters.  That's project dedication for ya.

After a few days / evenings of whitewashing we had everything done.  I laid out some extra floor padding and cardboard and hauled all the boards inside to the family room.

All ready to be hung! 

The guys started with the largest section of brick wall.  As soon as it started going up I began to swoon.  "It's so beauuuuuuutiful," probably ran through my head and out my lips more than once.  Even with just half of the brick covered the room looked so much lighter and fresher.

The bottom of the hearth, sides of the fireplace, and doorway surround were done next.  The rest of the fireplace was hung later, after we decided what we would do about the hearth.

A couple things to point out before I move ahead.  Remember the wooden box that hid the gas line?  Take a look at the right side of the fireplace.  The easy "fix" was simply to bump out the hearth enough to cover the gas line.  No, it isn't symmetrical.  But that isn't even noticeable.  And it's much better than having a big box that is in the way of more important things, like a TV.  *wink*

Also, we had our contractor run both cable and electric lines up to where the mantel will rest.  If we ever want to plug something in on the mantel or mount our tv up there, we can.  Just thinking ahead.

Moving on to the hearth.

This was a super tough project to tackle.  Not because a hearth is difficult, but because the stinkin' PRICES of hearths are insane!  A piece of remnant granite would have cost us $700.  Seven hundred dollars.  For a hearth.  No thanks.  We looked into concrete.  Believe it or not, the quote was the same as granite.  Pffffttttt.  We really didn't know what we were going to do.

So our contractor turns out to be the kind of guy who thinks he can do pretty much anything, including things he's never done before.  I guess that's good.  Confidence, right?  So he says he's read about how to pour concrete counters and the like and asks if we'd let him try to make our hearth. At this point we are desperate so we agree.

After many weeks of building the forms, getting the right kind of concrete mix, pouring the concrete, and waiting for it to dry, we finally had a concrete hearth. 

The guys carried it in, set it on the fireplace, and were pretty proud.  I, however, wasn't quite happy.  The concrete had swirly lines in it, like someone had sprayed it with a power washer in a circle pattern.  I hated to do it, but I asked for a new pour.  Thankfully they agreed and the process started over again.

A new frame was made, new concrete was poured, and this time they didn't swirl it around to help it settle and to get air bubbles out.  And we waited some more for it to dry.

Finally, just before Christmas, it was ready.  And this time it looked great.

The hearth and surround were put in place and some of the whitewashed boards were trimmed to fit.  LOVE. 

The mantel is a big hunk of reclaimed wood.  It's twisted and wonky, but I think that gives it some character.  I decided to leave it totally natural instead of staining or even putting poly on it because it has such a nice look as it is.

The last piece of the puzzle was getting a new gas log purchased and installed.  The old one was falling apart so we picked out a new one to replace it.

And with that, our fireplace wall is complete!

I have yet to do much decorating but I had a few pieces that I put up on the mantel for now.  Sasha painted the flowers at school and I like the pop of color so they are there as well for the time being.

The two cows were a surprise purchase of Cory's.  Well, they were a surprise to me.  The Jersey was delivered to our Marion home months before we moved.  Cory had actually ordered the Holstein but they shipped the Jersey by mistake. Instead of sending it back like most people would do, he just kept it and reordered the Holstein.  Because we don't have enough cows in this house. 

Ahem.

Anyway, they look right at home on barn board and I actually like them a lot.  They are a modern take on the cow, and that pleases me very much.

Overall, I am delighted with how this wall turned out.  Thank you, Crate & Barrel, for the inspiration.  The photo that was burned into my memory now lives in my home.  Can't beat that!