Made By Katy: Fireplace Makeover! And some shelves...

Hello, hello!

Today I wanted to share our fireplace makeover. Although I think we might like to add more to it in the future, I am REALLY loving what it looks like right now.

If you'll remember, we started out with this...

And then we put in new floors, painted the walls, and the trim and came to this...

I was still SO bothered with how dark the brick was, so one day I just started painting it with white primer. Bryan and I talked about how else we could change it without spending too much, and about a week and $40 later, we came up with this:

(We're going to pretend the the floors aren't dirty, okay?)

I am seriously loving it!

After some debate, I've decided to go a bit more vintage/coastal with this house since I tend to buy home accessories and art (especially seasonal decor) that lean toward those styles. That decision is what led us to move forward with painted brick and a bit more rustic looking mantle.

I used Benjamin Moore Gray Owl (75%) for the color and we bought plain pine boards at Home Depot and stained them with (what else) Danish Oil. We also finally added quarter round to the base of the fireplace.

I still need to caulk and paint the trim on the sides (we tried to remove it completely but the brick doesn't even meet that wall so that was a no go!), but after that I will be done with this thing!

I also had a bit of fun last week and moved my Ikea shelves that we originally had in the craft room to the living room. Kind of shocked Bryan with that one when he came home from work, but I think he likes it. I thought it would be a good way to display our books and some extra decor, and most importantly, to hide of all of Parker's toys!

(Five points if you can spot the two-year-old TJ Maxx price tag that I have never taken off and the tipped over wreath--I'm obviously not that observant when I take pictures.)

This has truly made nightly clean-ups SO much easier since I don't have to sneak in Parker's room and put away his toys (or stuff them in a corner for the next day). ;)

I still have a couple of more things to do in the living room before I'm happy with it (for the moment, anyway). We finally hung curtains a few weeks ago but I still need to hem and iron them. I also ordered blinds and am anxiously awaiting getting them in the mail, AND I need to paint the back door and touch up all the trim...and hang artwork. (and, and, and...)

Also, if I were to pull back the lens on these photos, you would see that our living room is currently home to our kitchen cabinets which I am halfway through painting. I would be done, but stinky weather has put me on hold for now...darn.

Cannot wait to share more! We are moving, moving, moving.

We also took this kid to the pumpkin patch tonight.