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Happy Go Stuckey

Tethering Grace & Togetherness

Our “Pinteresting” Fireplace

September 3, 2013 by HappyGoStuckey Leave a Comment

This home is the first we have ever owned. It is absolutely more than we thought we would have for our first home, but God dropped it right in our laps when we were searching. When Lance first had a serious interview at his current job, we were still living in NC, and we viewed the home online from the kitchen table of our cozy little apartment. The house was available as a foreclosure but was still out of our price range. But just looking at the pictures online, we fell in love with the Cape Cod style and the huge porch. I envisioned a thousand afternoons sitting outside, drinking iced tea.

Because of the price, we forgot about it and ended up moving into a temporary rental townhouse while we searched. After a few months, our house was lowered in price by thousands, making it a LOT more possible. As we proceeded, it became evident that this was OUR house and though there were many areas that needed cosmetic updating, we jumped in with both feet.

Well, regardless of the fact that we haven’t been able to do as much as we thought we would do right away, we have made this house a home. Though many of our projects turn out to be more involved and more expensive than Pinterest would have us believe (as they always are with a 30-yr old house!!) the project we did this weekend turned out great!!

Most of our house trim has been repainted, but our living room has not. The trim is dark, there is paneling and little light from the huge windows because we have so many trees. Although it’s very cozy, we recently realized we HAD to do something. After reviewing several tutorials on whitewashing fireplace brick, I knew that was the first step.

I found this tutorial to be the most helpful-– mostly because it looked a lot like our fireplace.

Having an unexpected weekend at home because of the kiddos, we got all the necessary equipment (which wasn’t much!) and then we re-bought the paint after we SPILLED IT ON THE KITCHEN FLOOR!!!!! We put the kids to bed Saturday night and got to work! We finished in just under 4 hours, not including the cleaning of the fireplace brick beforehand– which wasn’t too bad either.

So here’s what I know. 

1. I LOVE IT.  I really do. I can envision where to go next SO much easier now that this part is done.

2. As far as “where to go next,” there is no doubt about it, it now HAS TO BE DONE. No question. Now that the fireplace is brighter, we have to move forward with the paneling above it. I’m not 100% sure if we will just paint it, or try to remove it. That second option scares me a little.

3. I’m so thankful for a husband that trusted my research enough and was willing to do something so permanent to a main focal point in our home. And that he kept us going in the last 30 minutes when I was falling asleep while painting! Ha!

And now for the fun part: pictures!!!

Some BEFORE Shots:

IMG_6083

IMG_6092

Sorry about the Soot. We had our fireplace cleaned after this shot. And the fireplace screen covers most of this!

Now for AFTER!!!

(Keep in mind, we don’t get a lot of light in there– so accurate pictures are tough.)

_MG_6110

_MG_6099 IMG_1453 IMG_1455

And a little before and after comparison!

IMG_1413

So though this is only Phase 1 of our Living Room, redo- I think we are on the right track!

No Use Crying over Spilled Paint…
Little Sacrifices and Big Blessings

Comments

  1. Meredith B says

    September 3, 2013 at 5:16 pm

    I love it!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Help. I need somebody. HELP. | Happy Go Stuckey says:
    January 21, 2014 at 9:32 pm

    […] since we whitewashed our brick fireplace, the need to paint our living room has been increasingly evident. Before we moved in, the house was […]

    Reply

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Hey There!

I'm Cynthia and I'm so glad you're here. I am an introvert with an extrovert's love of gathering people together. I love good books and capturing moments. Whether you visit me here or on my own front porch, I'll be the one holding the Iced Coffee for us both.

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happygostuckey

Some of the rhythms we took up in ‘20 we will co Some of the rhythms we took up in ‘20 we will continue to sigh into in ‘21.
Baking sourdough, watching it bubble and rise and fill our BlueHouse with the scent of a good, long, posture of patience— I absolutely need a second serving of this.
While we wait, and whatever it is that we wait for— may the space between be made sweeter by the knowledge that we never wait alone.
You can’t tell by their joy, but the day I snapp You can’t tell by their joy, but the day I snapped this photo was somewhat of a regular day.

What looks like a winter beach vacation was actually the tail-end of a masked lunch stop in the middle of a pandemic road trip.

This sparkling moment of sun-splashed fun was sandwiched between brutal conversations about regular life, especially the hard parts.

And this is how it is. 
These bits of life that we never see coming, they are enveloped between all that makes us tired, weary, sighing pilgrims in a world that was never really meant to be hospitable in the first place.

This photo reminds me to look again at our year, our season, our circumstances.

To look a second and third time.
To keep looking as long as it takes to see that the joy of our right now isn’t gone, it just might be hiding in the shadow of all that’s hard.

Brokenness is never vague. And we don’t have to search very long to see it both within ourselves and around us.
Sometimes the weight of that fact is crushing.
And then, sometimes it reminds us even more clearly of the light shining in darkness.

Joy is an act of defiance against despair and I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling rather defiant at the moment.✨✨✨✨

@hopewriters #hopewriterlife 
#feastingandforaging #hopelenses #getaftergrateful
Endurance can feel like standing still. Especially Endurance can feel like standing still. Especially if what we’re called to be about is the same as yesterday and last month. 
It’s difficult to meet each day with the same fervor and joy for what we are called to do, especially when at present, the progress seems small and immeasurable. 
But even then, perhaps especially so — our faithfulness matters.

When we cannot yet see the other side, the light at the end of this particularly long tunnel, we begin again.

Not because we will always wake with fresh energies and bright, sparkling hope for what comes next, friend. But because the God of Endurance (Romans 15:5) dwells within us.

“It is the grace of endurance granted to you by the God of endurance that provides you with everything you need to continue to be what he calls you to be and do what he calls you to do between this moment and the moment when you cross over to the other side. When difficulty exposes the weakness of your resolve and the limits of your strength, you do not have to panic, because He will endure even in this moments when you don’t feel able to do so yourself.” — Paul David Tripp, New Morning Mercies

#hopewriterlife
Stuckey, party of two. Always ready to run out for Stuckey, party of two. Always ready to run out for paper towels... especially if the store is in convenient proximity to a quick date for croissants and dirty chai for two. Love my forever coffee companion even more at the start of this new year. Wherever he’s going, I’m riding shotgun.
We have learned... The inestimable value of a goo We have learned...

The inestimable value of a good camp chair, for they have been used for everything from soccer benches and coffee dates to theatre seats and church pews.

What our neighborhood streets can offer in the way of an outing—from the colors of spring to the sparkle of Christmas.

To hold plans with the loosest hands possible.

To rejoice in things found. Time. Margin. ...and enough toilet paper to share with a neighbor.

To give grace and accept it for ourselves.

The hilarious joy of a group text complete with “have you seen this meme yet?” 

To pivot. And then pivot again.

To find more joy in candlelight closer to home, instead of the bright lights of traveled cities.

To perfect our pizza dough recipe and truly learn to prefer it over dinner out.

To work with yeast and flour again and again— until the message of waiting for something really good dusted our apron fronts and kitchen floors.

And in our house, we learned how to be unexpectedly unemployed. We learned how to honor that new found space with needed grief and desired hope. How to be grateful for true friends who prayed with us, held questions with us, and hoped with us. We were reminded of our true identity and that it will never rest in a job. 

In a year in which we’ve all lost quite a lot, you and I have been given so much as well. Some of what we’ve lost we have learned to be without. Some, we won’t go looking for again.

In 525,600 minutes and in all the things, found and lost and found again— there is far and away more to be grateful for.

And we choose joy.

✨Happy New Year, dear friends!✨
Not rushing too quickly into a new year over here. Not rushing too quickly into a new year over here. Though the one in our rear view window is one we wouldn’t choose to repeat, still it was one full of God’s nearness.

One day I’ll write it all down.
But for now I’ll just say,
we were not alone. 🕯
“Once in our world, a Stable had something in it “Once in our world, a Stable had something in it that was bigger than our whole world.”
C.S.Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia

Joy to the World, friends.
Behold. The most apropos Christmas Eve 2020 desser Behold. The most apropos Christmas Eve 2020 dessert ever. Made from a wonky gingerbread cake that did not cooperate.
We shall not go quietly into 2021.
We will fight back with beauty and joy and candles... and fresh whipped cream made by an eleven year old with sparkly green eyes. 🎄❤️✨
Merry Christmas from the Fam! { 👉🏻 swipe for Merry Christmas from the Fam! { 👉🏻 swipe for Stuckeys in their natural habitat.) 🎄🕯❤️✨
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