By Elle
Oh, friends, it’s been a long time, I know. We’re awfully preoccupied with taking care of elderly family members right now, so thank you for your patience as we try to carve out time for blogging…and for finishing some of our long-abandoned home reno projects such as our fireplace.
The fireplace feels done enough to reveal photos. First, the before. When we ripped out the dining room carpeting and completely replaced the floor with hardwood, we also tore out the fireplace hearth, the bricks from which now live underneath our backyard patio extension, photos to come. (Recycle, reuse is our motto!)
We felt the hearth took up valuable real estate, and it was certainly a hazard for our many grandchildren, one of whom I miraculously saved once from a probable cracked skull as she careened, head first, toward the hearth’s sharp corner. So out it went.
We still wanted a hearth, just one that was flat, so we carved out a spot for it and installed the hardwood floor around it, which you can see on the left in the photo below.
We knew we wanted to update the brick somehow so we’d applied a limewash to it and didn’t love the outcome. Eventually, we just painted it with three shades of copper paint, and that did the trick.
While we were renovating the dining room, the empty fireplace made a great storage spot for all our tools and supplies!
Because the hearth extended about 16 inches up the face of the fireplace, we needed to deal with that mess. We tossed around several ideas and finally settled on facing it with the same porcelain tile we would use for the hearth.
For uniformity, we also lined the inside floor of the fireplace with the tile. We then installed a wall-mounted electric fireplace that offers flame, heat and Bluetooth capability so that we can play music from it. The sound quality is perfect for the room.
The porcelain tile has a metallic finish, which complements the copper color of and gives a modern feel to the traditional brick. One warning though: Although gorgeous, the tile is tricky to cut because of its metallic finish — they have a tendency to chip. Let’s just say it’s a good thing we bought extra.
What’s still undone? Grouting the tile, touching up some of the copper paint and replacing the wood trim around the brick.
I especially love how the metallic tile looks against the cherry and maple floor, and, best of all, no one can trip over or fall into it and get hurt! That said, I’m updating this post to note that I’m not fully in love with the entire look. I feel like it’s what you’d get if a fireplace and a farmhouse sink mated. What do you think?
Although January is nearing a close, please accept our best wishes for a happy, healthy and magical New Year!
Abby & Elle Upstairs Fashion & Design 