Saturday, February 7, 2015

Fireplace Progress Jan/Feb

After a brief hiatus for a big 5th birthday party, we're back at work on the fireplace/family room renovation. The stones have arrived and are taking up real estate in the garage since they are too heavy to drag to the basement. The special order cabinets are making their way up from the basement storage.

The blue tile has been removed completely. After removing the hearth piece it didn't take D long to remove the rest because he simply cut the drywall out.




While he was at it, D also added overhead lights near the mantle area. Now we have some accent lighting that illuminates the fireplace and mantle. He also needed to move some switches slightly to the right to accommodate the new bookcases. 

Watching TV and wiring lights on the weekend. 



Here D is removing the old tile and adding cement backer board in preparation for the new stone. 


The blue lines signal where the bookcases will go


This is where we are at right now. The cabinets are in, but the baseboards need to be painted. The top of the cabinets are waiting for the final edges to be routed and painted. (Hooray for new tools!) The hearth will be expanded slightly to sit tight against the cabinets once the stone is installed. The walls are mudded and need a coat of paint. I'm usually not a fan of white walls, but in this case I am loving the change from the dingy yellow we currently have. D has the wood for the shelving, but they need to be painted and assembled in place. The last piece will be the stone. Meanwhile I am painting, painting, painting. We are changing (nearly) every single door in this house including the closets and they all need multiple coats of white paint.  I have an assembly line in the basement and the shelves/bookcases will be added to that queue. Luckily I find that kind of painting relaxing. Maybe it's the quiet basement. Or maybe its the wine. 


Family room on move in day, August 2014


Fireplace progression, early February 2015