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:
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.)
And a little before and after comparison!
So though this is only Phase 1 of our Living Room, redo- I think we are on the right track!
I love it!