spring simplicity

spring has definitely sprung around south carolina.



in my house that means a couple things.

1. we are all taking claritin.

and

2. the mantel gets tweaked again.

in keeping with my quest for simplicity around here

the mantel was really scaled back this year.

here's what she looked like last spring, just to give you a comparison.

you can check out more of it here. if you do,

you'll notice we have also painted the brick

surround and removed the big black door insert since

last spring.

this year, i moved some of my favorite prints (from here) from our den

 and placed them over the fireplace.

the branches are from a dogwood tree in our backyard.

aaand, that's pretty much it! boring?

 

not to me. not this year. i'm loving

the minimal feel of it. maybe it's the chaos that

swallows the rest of our little house that is 

causing me crave clear spaces right now.

i also removed the screen and all our firepoking tools and

 gave the interior of the fireplace a fresh coat

 of heat proof black paint.

for the summer a fern has replaced the fire grate.

also, those aren't specks on the black paint. i just need to sweep! :)

if you are looking for spring mantel inspiration go check out Layla's

mantel at the lettered cottage, where inspiration abounds, and all

the folks linking up today in honor of the first day of spring!

~ stacy ~

project updates: whitewash and boy rooms!

i did it.

i made a decision on the brick fireplace treatment.

it's not done yet but i have had a few people ask to see what i'd done so far,

so here ya go.

i used a 50/50 ratio of primer to water, grabbed a brush

and started applying.

the whitewash is on. it took about 1.5 hours and dried super

fast.

next step is to take a wire brush to it to rough it up just a bit and

expose a little more of the brick.

we love it! even without the roughing up.

pastor j has been wanting me to paint

it for a while so he is especially pleased with it which

makes me happy.

we also have a few things going on upstairs in the boys'

quarters. it involved this. . .

and some of this. . . 

and now we are here. . .

this is luke's corner. he styled the shelves himself. :)

next week beadboard will go up on the side walls, beneath

the pitched ceiling.

wil's corner is gonna be sweet, too.

and timmy? he's getting a splash of green in his room!



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

younghouselove,

 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~

bringing out the ducks and seeing yellow!

i've had these ducks for a while.

in our last house they sat perched atop our

large built-in's.

in this house they have been sanctioned to the hall closet with

some of the items i couldn't bare to part with when

i was "simplifying."

but now they are front and center on the mantel.

i also threw up a few books, some blue ball jars, and a colorful

little crafty candle stick holder.

craving more yellow in the house i spray painted

an old mirror that had been gathering dust in our shed.



it's similar in color to this dresser across the room which i love.

say yes to yellow!

back to the mantel.

it's pretty simple. . . i just gathered stuff from around the house.

but it feels fresh and it makes me smile.

once again, i apologize for the poor quality pics.

i wanted to show you the bottom, though, as it's getting a

face lift soon.

we recently took the fireplace insert out - it was brass that i had

spray painted black - so that i can do a whitewash

treatment on the brick.

'twill be interesting.

i'm a little nervous since you can't really go back to the brick

once that's done, ya know?

while i do my research on that i made use of the space.

we have lots of books floating around the house that need a place to

land. those built-ins i mentioned earlier? we don't have any in this house

so i am having to get creative with where our books are stored.

they are in nooks and crannies all over the house.

i also didn't want to pack away my candles so

i just brought them from the mantel to the  hearth

and threw up a few empty frames behind them.



i'm kinda diggin' it.

also, it's hot.

yes, it's may and that needle is pushing 100!

y'all stay cool this weekend and have a great

memorial day weekend!

i'm linking up with kevin and layla at the lettered cottage today!
go check it out cause there will be lot's of mantel inspiration.
and as usual, the lettered couple's mantel is amazing!



bright spot

it's hard to believe that a broken

hot water heater can disrupt

day to day life so much.

today is tuesday, the problem started

saturday and the job is still not done.

it's getting close, though.

since the house is overrun with

dirty dishes and clothes that cannot be 

washed, and all our living spaces are piled

with the contents of the ruined closet, i thought i

would tweak the only space that is not

cluttered.

the mantel!

i decided to bring in an old shutter that i picked up

a year or so ago at a junktique place.

i also gathered the white candle's that look just

like they did from christmas. that's the great thing about

using white and burlap!

and what's a spring mantel without flowers?

i also threw some empty frames behind the

candles and flowers.



i love the rustic features of the shutter.

the texture and weight of it really adds some

interest against the white walls and white mantel.

it's the bright spot amongst the current mess

here at quinby cottage!

don't be fooled. the mess is there. i just moved it right outside

the frame of this picture. :)