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I Like to Move It, Move It

Published on December 21, 2012December 21, 2012 by Our Humble Abode26 Comments

Furniture, that is. Winter has settled in and we’re using (and loving!) the new fireplace. Because of this, I had an urge to rearrange the family room furniture. To make the fireplace more of a focal point. This room has been difficult for me to arrange. One wall has a door and two windows, another a door to the living room and stairs, a fireplace on the third and then an opening to the kitchen. Here’s the arrangement we started with.

The black lines at the top are the walls in the room with a door leading to the stairs. Couch facing the fireplace, chairs and a table perpendicular to the couch and fireplace. Big open space in the middle. Initially, I really had my heart set on moving the couch, which keeping the group centered on the fireplace, like this:

I tried it a few nights ago (moving furniture by myself while Ben was at work), but our sofa is three feet deep, so it took up much of the walkway (the blue dotted lines). Right away, I knew it wouldn’t work. But the fireplace isn’t centered on the room. We’ve got about a foot more space by the windows (the blue boxes at the bottom). Perhaps the couch would fit better there?

So I pivoted the couch over there. It wasn’t terrible, but it had a few problems. Little space between, not enough for a coffee table. The walk space behind the chairs was small, which Ben hated.

But my biggest reason for nixing this arrangement: it made a long, narrow (narrow when factoring in walking paths) room feel, well, longer and narrower. Oh, and then there’s this oddly open floor space in the breakfast nook that was only accentuated by the placement.

Back to the drawing board. It seems the best place for the couch was the original position. How about moving the chair and table group opposite the couch, in front of the fireplace?

Um, not my favorite.

I like the lightness of the chairs in front of the fireplace, but I don’t like the hard lines and how closed off it made the fireplace feel.

Maybe setting the chairs at an angle, with a round table between?

Ahh, that opened up the fireplace nicely.

So far, this is my favorite layout, for a few reasons. One, the couch separates the family room from the breakfast nook and kitchen.

Secondly, the group is still centered on the fireplace, while making it a focal point. And we’ve still got room for a coffee table.

Last, it keeps walkways open, keeping traffic a-flowin’.

I just moved the furniture to this arrangement this morning, so Ben hasn’t seen it yet. We’ll see what he thinks, because he’s oddly picky about furniture placement. Heck, if he had his way, the room would look more like this:

Couch pushed up against the only wall. Not my idea of an inviting and functional room.

Now that I’ve spewed, um, shared, the layout options, I want to hear your thoughts. Which grouping did you like best? Or maybe you’ve got an idea for a different layout? Do you have a tricky room to arrange?

Grey Skies

Published on December 19, 2012December 19, 2012 by Our Humble Abode21 Comments

I’m itching to paint. A room. Something. Anything, really. Especially the family room. The peachy pink walls are getting on my nerves. To keep the room light and bright, I’m thinking of using a light gray on the walls.

Just to see what we think, I painted swatches of left over bathroom paint, Wood Smoke at 25% tint. While I like the lightness, I think the color in here seems too cold and blue. Even against the freshly painted white trim.

Rather than a true gray, I’m thinking I’ll use more of a light taupe color. Just have to pin down the one. Which is fine, because I’ve got time. As much as I’d love to paint every room, we’ve got some projects to cross off our list before it really makes sense.

In the family room, the fireplace still needs trim and paint. But the bigger task is the hall, which is an extension of the family room. Small wood trim isn’t our favorite. Nor does it match throughout the main level.

Instead, we plan to replace the trim with the same white baseboard and casement. In every room. Until we get the trim installed, primed, and painted, I think it makes the most sense to wait on paint. Unfortunately touching up any sort of paint with a sheen has proven difficult. The color is the same (from the same can!) but the sheen doesn’t match. Rather than paint the room twice (in the same color, no less), I’d rather wait until we’re ready and only have to do it once.

Has this happened to you? Do you have a favorite light taupe paint color to recommend?

Cover Up, Part Deux

Published on December 17, 2012March 26, 2013 by Our Humble Abode26 Comments

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?

Snowy Scene

Published on December 12, 2012December 12, 2012 by Our Humble Abode1 Comment

Did you know powder laundry detergent makes a great faux snow substitute? Well, it does. Last Christmas, the boys and I made snow filled ornaments using doll house birds and Epsom salt. This year, we made snowy scenes in open glass containers. We poured Epsom salt in one, pushed in a tree, set a bird on it.

After that one, we ran out of salt, so we improvised. Laundry detergent to the rescue to make a larger forest-ish scene.

(So sorry for the glare! Any photography tips for glass and glare?!) Power detergent looks like snow (minus the glittery effect), but smells lovely.

When we’re ready to change things up, we can dump the detergent back in the original container. No faux snow to store or save.

Cover Up

Published on December 11, 2012March 26, 2013 by Our Humble Abode25 Comments

The great fireplace cover up has begun. After a day of being annoyed that we couldn’t remove the rock, Ben decided on a plan of attack. It involves wood 2 by 4s, steel studs, plywood, and concrete backer. First, he started with the wood studs, building a frame slightly larger than the deepest rocks around the top and sides. Combustibles shouldn’t be too close to the insert, so we have a slightly higher than we’d like mantle. The bottom of the 2 by 4 is where the bottom of the mantle will start.

A 2 by 6 box (basically a very short version of a wall) makes up the base of the hearth, which is sturdy enough to support the weight of the 600 pound insert.

In the hall, the framing is minimal to keep the walkway wide and show as much of the inlay floors as possible.

Then Ben had the pleasure of installing the new duct work, with plenty of annoyances and obstacles along the way. Finally, time to haul up the beast, I mean insert. Ben and Handy Sammy loaded it on a dolly, hefting it up, one stair at a time. I pulled in the dolly, trying to help, but I couldn’t get it to budge. Luckily, the guys are much stronger and got it up the stairs without hurting themselves or the house.

The next morning, they carefully hoisted the insert, scooting it around to get it in place.

As I mentioned before, combustibles can’t be close to the insert, so Ben used steel studs to frame out everything below the mantle.

Oh, and we took down the huge mirror. Fortunately four clips held it in place, so there’s no wall damage. Oddly enough, the room feels bigger without the mirror reflecting the kitchen. A layer of concrete board on top and we’re ready for tile.

Awkward angles of the surround won’t let us tile up to the insert, so we’ve got a small frame around.

Speaking of tile, we chose 1 foot by 2 foot black slate tiles at Home Depot. Why? Because we’re suckers for natural stone, love the color, subtle color differences, the matte finish, and the price. Most importantly, the dark tile should better disguise soot or ash from the wood fireplace. Had we gone with a gas insert, we would have chosen a lighter tile.