Dispatches

I always love getting photos from far off friends (or strangers!) who have been inspired in some small way by this here blog.

Amy sent me some progress shots of her basement, where a fireplace went dark and the stairs got some ombre.  (Yes, those links are to the inspiration posts.)

Thanks to the crazy weather of 2013, these guys had a flood in their Colorado basement.  Here's the waterlogged before:

And the lovely after!

Detail of the stairs:

I love how the same technique has such a different feeling in a different context.  This one is so much moodier than the bright and airy inspiration.

Amy is an artist who is always adding her special touch to her home.

Making it ours: isn't that the fun of it?

Cheap Trick: Fireplace Before and After

I did a staging job back  in February, and I haven't shared one tiny little piece of interesting advice or dramatic before and after just yet.  And you wouldn't think I would have fireplaces on the brain, but I've actually been using ours: it has been mid-50s, rainy, and grey.

Fireplace surrounds can be pricey, and I wanted to share this inexpensive fix.

My client had a surround that was really a family heirloom, and they planned to take it with them.  We needed to install a replacement but didn't want to spring for wood to match the trim--which would have been a natural choice.

(before)

(after)

Instead, we bought one from mantelsdirect.com and painted it a color three steps down the paint card from the wall color.  

Yes, you read that right:  Mantelsdirect.com!  I chose the profile that went best with the style of the moldings (The Yosemite, if you're curious) and customized it to fit my size requirements.  (The tile was existing and we weren't  messing with it.)  A few weeks and less than $400 later, the mantel arrived, primed MDF, in nearly one piece.  (I could have had them paint it for me, but since my painter was already knocking out the whole house, it made more sense to have him do it.)

I have to say, in a pinch this tonal paint solution really worked.  The same mantel in solid wood would have run us at least times as much--not smart when you are staging, and not always possible even when you are staying put.

What do you think?  I'm really into painted trim these days.

Inspiration

Plans on the fireplace progress.  Yes!

We have selected tile and formalized our plans for the wood column.

Wood along these line (width, stain, grain):

Source: bottegatokyo.com via Heather on Pinterest

Color combo sorta kinda like this (mid tone wood, taupe surround):

Source: houzz.com via Heather on Pinterest

Insert floating, kinda like this:

Source: afflante.tumblr.com via Heather on Pinterest

I love how the fireplace design will reference the 50s (the house was built in 1950) without being retro. We're basically taking the 50s paneled wood ceiling (or wall) and putting it on the chimney.

Source: c497280.r80.cf2.rackcdn.com via Heather on Pinterest

Source: houzz.com via Heather on Pinterest

And taking the idea of the 50s fieldstone fireplace and using it for the surround.

Source: augustvintage.blogspot.com via Heather on Pinterest

Can't wait to see this one come together. My client's can't picture it. But I see it perfectly, and it will be fab!

(Want to see more 50s inspiration?  check out my pinboard here.  And tons of fireplaces here.)

Sneak peek: fireplace before and after

 I (mostly) wrapped this project last week, and I'm looking forward to taking pictures in the daylight to share with you.  The biggest makeover in the space  was rethinking the fireplace.

Before:

While I will admit I kind of love the mantel, the stone slabs were terrible, the overall scale was wrong for the room (too short and wide), and the style was fighting with the simple shaker lines of the adjacent kitchen.  Plus the client just didn't like it.

After:

The square format tiles are mission-inspired and the dark color grounds the room.  My favorite thing might be the coppery listello, that decorative tile that runs between the tile surround and the mantel (and also rings the tiled hearth.)  We used solid cherry to fit in with the trim throughout the house, and we created a more-square proportion and a very substantial profile.

What do you think?  I love the way it holds up the room!

Adding to the fireplace vignette

When I revealed the black-painted fireplace wall, I mentioned that I was planning to add an upholstered top to the mid-century bench.  The wall needed a textile for softness, the new coffee table meant I needed a little extra height for the bench, and the wood-slat, though I love it, was reading a little too casual for where the design of this room is going.

Using a leftover piece of glazed linen (it was welting for client pillows), a piece of plywood I already had, and leftover foam from a headboard project, the only expense to this project was a couple of dollars in batting.

I also went looking for baskets to use under the bench a couple of weeks ago, and came up short.  Friday, however, I hit Consignment Central and found this pair.  They were exactly what I was looking for.

Because they were $12 each--pricey for consignment--I almost didn't buy them.  Then I remembered that most of the baskets I had looked at (at Michael's, World Market, Target, Home Goods) were more expensive and less perfect!  I'm thinking of giving them a dipped effect with either gold or silver rub n buff or spraypaint.

Kind of like these two combined:

both photos, Martha Stewart

This way my husband and I will have his-and-hers magazine bins, eliminating the conflict of who/when/how magazines get sorted and recycled.

Isn't it funny how we almost walk away from what we want because we are expecting a "better deal"?  I also almost bought just one of the baskets, but the truth is, you should never split up a good pair!

Fireplace transformation

People.

I have been holding out on you with the long-promised fireplace transformation.  Why?  Because I was planning one more little project for the whole fireplace wall.  But then I had a nice, sunny warm day, great for taking pictures, so I decided to show you anyway.

BEFORE

The before.  Yikes!  Now that it is better, I can't believe I lived with this for two years.  The fireplace insert is just so awkwardly placed, floating in the wall, with no surround or mantel--no nothing!  And my assortment of random objects placed in descending height order is not helping.

Well, all that has changed.  Witness:

It's good, right?  Here, take another look:

So what was the project?  I'm making an upholstered top for that bench which isn't really a bench but a coffee table.  My husband is VERY unhappy at the idea that people will sit on this, but I bought the thing at the flea market when I was 24 and I went ahead and pulled rank.  And then compromised with the idea of an upholstered board instead of a loose cushion--for more stability, weight evenly spread across the bench, yadda yadda practical stuff.

I'm choosing a fabric from the stacks, and thinking tealy/emerald green glazed linen.

But in the meantime, books work.  Fur throws and pillows work.

It is a dramatic change (and the very first design idea I had for this house.)  My only regret?  I should have done it sooner.  Even if it was terrible, it's just paint!

Swan Corbels and a fireplace makeover

Hi friends.  Did you enter to win the $50 gift card from Shabby Apple?  Click on the original giveaway post here and scrolllllll down for directions.

I'm working on a fireplace re-design for a new client, with a tile facade that is an updated take on mission style.  Here's the vintage inspiration:

Source: redfin.com via Heather on Pinterest

We will do square tiles, possibly offset, that runs along the face and the hearth.  We are creating built-in shelves around the fireplace, but because the existing fireplace is set into the wall fairly flush, the shelves will essentially create a recessed fireplace.  Here's what we want to avoid:

Source: houzz.com via Heather on Pinterest

The fireplace just gets lost, and the mantel feels disconnected from the white built ins.

Instead, we will do shelves that are 12" deep, and for balance, we will do a mantel at the same depth, supported by simple decorative wood corbels.  I found this, which is almost exactly what I was picturing:

Source: dominiquesskincare.com via Heather on Pinterest

(except we are not working with such high ceilings, so no cabinet or arch at the top).  The tile we're using even looks similar.  So lovely, right?

Like so many other design elements, there are a million choices for corbels out there.  These things also get expensive, fast.  Because we want something simple, I am trying to keep it budget friendly, with a narrow bracket that will extend 2/3 of the way out the mantel.  Something like this:


$31 a piece, here.  Truth be told, I would like something a little fatter, but then the price leaps into the hundreds--for each corbel, and I think I need 5.  No dice.

While I was poking around the interwebs, I came across plenty of gorgeous specimens with all kinds of carving.  With all the animalia out there these days, I thought you guys would like to see this one:


here

Kinda makes me think of this table from Serena and Lily

Source: serenaandlily.com via Leina on Pinterest

Or these elephant console tables

Source: circawho.com via Gwynne on Pinterest

Or the rams head coffee tables that seem to be popping up all over.

Source: littlenudge.wordpress.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Have I ever mentioned that my mom had a swan-base coffee table with glass top in the late 80s? She did. And oh, did I love it.

If you want more fireplace reference, check out my pins here and here.