Thursday, September 22, 2011

to paint or not to paint?

* paint brick fireplace!

that's on my project to-do list.

it should have been checked off by now so that
it would be ready for use this winter.


it's not.

i'm generally not one to shy away from slapping
paint on anything but for some reason
i feel tentative about painting the brick.
does that mean i shouldn't do it?

after we moved in i immediately painted the shiny brass
fireplace insert black.



that was easy and greatly improved things.
but in the back of my mind i knew i'd eventually paint the brick.

in anticipation of painting it this summer i cleaned her
out really well in the spring and removed the big
honking insert.

this is how it sits now.



when i took the insert out i realized i'd done a rotten
prep job before painting it. note the black rim around the opening.

so, now, i have to paint the brick.
right?

i do like the warmth of brick. i think i'm afraid i'm going to want
it back and this is one paint job you just can't undo.

however, every time i see a painted brick fireplace, like this one from


 i'm ready to pull out my brush!

i also love the brick treatment in this kitchen.

and this whitewash treatment is great.

source

what to do, what to do?

i'm leaning toward a whitewash so that some of the warmth
of the brick will come through.

any opinions? i'm wide open.

~stacy~



Wednesday, September 21, 2011

a shot of red


One year ago my family moved into Quinby Cottage.

Since then we have been busy trying to make this downsize
work for our family of five by creating a warm
and functional space.

We're getting there.
You can see a little of what we've done
here, here, and here (where she's all cleaned up for Christmas).

We've knocked out wall's, pulled out kitchen cabinetry, painted,
put up board and batten and horizontal planks, and changed out some lighting.

There is still so much more to be done and I've been in a bit of
a diy rut lately!
I knew that in order to get out of the rut I needed
to tackle a quick project that would provide instant
gratification. And it needed to be cheap.
So, I finally painted our front porch swing.


My mom and dad gave us this swing the week we moved in and it's
been on my long "project" list ever since. It was the perfect project
to get me going again.

I decided to paint it the same red as our front door, which I had on hand.



Nothing like an easy update that packs a punch to
get the diy juices flowing!



It's time to re-visit my project list and get busy!


Stay tuned!

linking up with The Shabby Nest for Frugal Friday.