Before getting to decorating, I want to say how deeply saddened and sorry I am for the families in Connecticut. Such a senseless tragedy. Our thoughts and love go out to the families, friends, and community of Sandy Hook. Here’s a link offering various ways to help.
Well, the cover up is working; the fireplace has never looked better. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present to you exhibit A:
On the left, 70′s moss rock, complete with poorly placed vents. The right side shows step one of the great cover up consisting of studs and cement board. And now, exhibit B:
A clean slate, pun intended. Ben laid the slate tile, saying it was the easiest tile he’s ever worked with. And we’re both head over heels for the pretty, slightly varied, textural tile.
Because the insert has angled sides, we decided to tile the insides of the walls, too.
Everything outside the combustible free area (the tiled surround) has gotten a layer of plywood. This should come in handy if/when we want to hang something above the mantel.
Speaking of the mantel, we considered a solid piece of reclaimed wood. Then we thought it might stick out (not in a good way) with the rest of our plans. Instead, Ben built a simple plywood box to place over a few 2 by 4 boards. Basically a mantel slip cover over supporting studs.
Clearly, we’ve still got some work to do before we can call this a wrap.
For starters, we’ll add 1/4 inch thick by 2 inch wide trim around all the edges, including the mantel. Because the rock extended into the hall, we covered it up just like the rest of the fireplace. As it currently is, it seems like an odd little bump out. To make it fit with the rest of the fireplace and differentiate between the normal walls, we’ll add more 1/4 inch trim to make a grid. Then, to brighten up the space and balance out the dark slate, a few coats of white paint. Something kind of like my Photoshopped version:
In addition to painting windows, baking cookies, squeezing the boys a little tighter, and usual errands, that pretty much sums up our weekend happenings. What did you do this weekend?
