Under Construction... Again

We've talked for years about redoing our living room; it's become a bit of an eyesore. Especially our carpet, which has definitely seen better days. One of the things that always held us up was what to do about our fireplace. We just didn't know how to tackle a project that big. Then my brother Kevin decided to become a contractor, and we started talking to him about what to do. Long story short, we finally bit the bullet, and the day after New Years, Teag tackled the fireplace demo. Here's a picture I took of it in all it's ketchup and mustard brick former glory (sans mantle).

Check out the sweet wallpaper behind where the mantle was! I can't imagine why they covered it up! I know you're wondering why we'd want to get rid of this gloriousness, but trust me, it's for the best. The brick actually came off in several large chunks, so that part wasn't too bad.

Teag was more anxious about what lay under the hearth, and whether or not it would be solid concrete below. We got our hopes up when Teag found a buried metal box inside one portion; we thought we were about to strike it rich! Sadly, said box was completely empty. Bummer.

And like every other project we've taken on in this house, there was a fair amount of wondering what in the world the previous owners were thinking. They've cobbled together some weird stuff in this house, and we've slowly had to go back and redo it as it's unearthed.

But now, we're all ready for our new, efficient fireplace insert. I'm so excited to have a fire we feel like we can actually light! Our old one was so bad we might as well have thrown dollar bills into the flames. I also talked Teag into having our contractor do a glass and stone kit, rather than the fake longs. It looks very fancy, and gives me a ridiculous amount of pleasure. Small things, right?

Teag then had to spend a bunch of time framing, and building, and leveling things in order to fill in the gaps around the unit, and in preparation for building the mantle. And because he's awesome, he figured it all out, and got it ready for tile.

 

We laid a marble tile in front of the fireplace, which I love for how shiny and fancy it looks.

Then Teag began to lay out the tiles around the unit itself, small ones in varying shades.

I'm really excited about how the finished product looks. Teag has started building the mantle, and once that goes up, I'll post completed pictures. It's one of those truly amazing blessings to have a husband this handy. This project has had a whole of "how the heck are we going to do this?" moments, given how oddly the previous fireplace was constructed. Teag definitely dealt with a lot of frustrations trying to make it work, but make it work he did. He's incredible. Love my handy man!