We are lucky enough to have a home with two fireplaces. We both wanted a home with a fireplace, but when we found our dream home and it had two fireplaces... well, that was just the icing on the cake.
However, the living room fireplace did not fit our style. Not even close. It wasn't the type of thing where we could add pretty decor and make do. We knew right away, that we would eventually do something different with it.
When we decided to move in with my parents for seven months and do a complete remodel of the house, we decided that it would be best to take down the massive rock wall. We realized that if we didn't do it now, it might not happen for a very long time, if ever!
Here is day one of starting to take it down. We are guessing that one day, our kids will say, "Dad!! Why did you get rid of this!? We could have used it as a rock climbing wall!"
Taking the rocks and concrete down was quite the process!
When we brought the rock and concrete remains to the construction recycling center, it weighed 3,000 pounds!
Nick and my Dad patched the wall above the fireplace and closed up the yellow, rectangular windows on either side. In the meantime, we were working days, nights, and weekend to finish everything else in the house (kitchen, bathroom, floors, baseboards, paint, you name it!)
We started looking into hiring out for the fireplace because we were so exhausted by this phase of the house remodel. We had a couple quotes for stone casting and we promptly decided that a $5,500 fireplace was not what we were wanting to spend our money on!
This is when the waiting came into play. We made the decision to put the fireplace on hold, and finish it at a later date. For me, it was a hard decision because I really wanted to move into a house that was done. At first it was hard to see that big hole in the wall because it was a constant reminder that there was still a lot of work to be done.
Luckily, I have a sweet husband who thought of a great solution. He covered it up with a lovely cardboard fire. This kept me quiet for a little bit.
Within a few months, we saved enough money and were ready to tackle the project. Unfortunately, we had no clue what we wanted to do! So, we just waited some more. We looked at hundreds of fireplaces online and started dreaming of what we wanted.
After a few months, we picked out a tile and started to frame the box.
Nick built. I watched.
He amazes me. I am blown away with how handy and creative he is. I wouldn't even know where to begin with a project like this... even if I had instructions!
He worked on the box on nights and weekends; it took a couple of months until it was completed. There were a couple of snags along the way... gotta love those learning experiences!
Once the box was built, he finished piping the gas.
Our good friend, Peter, spent his entire Sunday helping Nick to lay down the concrete inside the fireplace.
After the concrete was finished, Nick painted the tan bricks inside with a fireproof black paint.
And, eventually, it was finished!! It turned out exactly how we had hoped. We wanted a simple, yet elegant design. Clean lines, no frills. Modern, yet not cold. Did I mention that we absolutely love it??
The final step in order to have it be officially "complete" are the fake logs. We are currently on the hunt for the perfect set of "fake logs"!
The best part? Well, there are actually two best parts. It is finished BEFORE baby arrives... hooray!! Secondly, it's finished just in time for Christmas! This means I have two mantles to decorate! Woohoo!
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the story of our fireplace. It was a long process, but looking back on it, I think it was a really good process. It forced us (me) to be patient and wait for something that we really wanted done right.
Cheers to many years of warm fires and toasty evenings in our living room!
Wow!
ReplyDeleteGood things are always worth the wait... Looks gorgeous and love the tree!
ReplyDeleteHope
It is a work of art. Nice job you guys.
ReplyDelete