Is it Monday already? I’m dragging this morning after a little too much of everything on a family trip to Sonoma Valley this weekend…
via Instagram |
It’s only a three hour drive but it was my first time in wine country—and it was beautiful. On the way home we stopped at a Barnes and Noble where I grabbed a copy of the latest issue of Cottages & Bungalows…
Anyone remember this room?
I was honored to receive a four page spread about the sunroom in our Florida house! (Special thanks to my girl Shayna @ The Wood Grain Cottage for showing me a sneak peek of the article before I could get my hands on a copy!)
Now that the weekend is over, it’s back to reality—work and house projects. In between kitchen projects last week, we made time to spruce up the living room with a fresh paint job.
Here’s how it looked in the very beginning:
And then after moving in, still very beige:
I decided to keep things open and airy so I used the same barely there gray I chose for the top half of the studio walls—Valspar’s Montpelier Madison White.
We were going to tackle it ourselves, but this room has some seriously high ceilings—some of them directly over a staircase, and there was just no possible way we could do it. We found a local reputable painter (my parents use him all the time) and he made us an offer we couldn’t refuse so we went for it.
And now it’s like a whole new room.
Don’t mind the random tv placement—we need to figure out how to move the cable box to the fireplace, so it’s hanging out there for now.
The stair risers will be painted this week!
The paint was a huge improvement, but there was still a big eyesore…
This dingy red fireplace had to go.
My ultimate vision is stacked stone all the way up to the ceiling (maybe the same stone we used for our bar wall?) But this requires quite a bit of time/effort/money, none of which we’re willing or able to dedicate right now.
So we went with the easy temporary fix—paint.
First I had to clean it up a bit and address some of the issues… like this:
And this:
It wasn’t going to be perfect, but there were some obvious cracked/missing bricks that I thought could benefit from patching. I used “Presto Patch” which is a powder you mix with water and it forms a cement-like putty that dries and hardens rapidly.
It worked pretty well in areas like this:
The larger areas usually needed a few coats, so it took a little while to do the job. And it was a messy job.
I didn’t go over every spot as it would have taken all day—I don’t mind a little roughness. It’s just temporary, remember.
I also had to prepare the tile surface by scraping and scrubbing off this sticky tape all the way around it…
After a few hours of prep, it was time to paint!
To keep the grays consistent, I pulled another color from the studio (we used it on our plank walls)—Valspar’s Ocean Storm.
I didn’t know what to expect as this was our first time painting brick, but it was not fun.
It took a lot longer than expected. The flat surfaces of the bricks weren’t all that bad—just a couple passes with a roller brush. The grout was an entirely different story. It was difficult to get into every single nook and cranny.
We were up for a good part of the night just trying to get it covered. There are still a lot of small touch ups we need to make, but we’re happy to call this project Done (for now).
Much better, right?
For a $40 gallon of paint, you can’t beat it.
I haven’t decided when I’ll go ahead and pull the trigger on the stacked stone—we’re going to live with it like this for a little while and see how the other projects pan out. I can’t wait to build a nice chunky mantel for it!
For now, I’m just enjoying the fact that the red is gone and the living room feels a lot calmer.
I think this week we’ll be focusing on the stair railing—it’s an issue we’ve been putting off for a while now and it’s a safety hazard that needs to be addressed. Check back later to see how things are coming along!
Erin G. says
Love it, the room looks so much lighter! Your cable company should be able to send someone out to fish a new line, we recently had this done and despite the guy being here 2 hours to complete it, it only cost $45!
Sugar says
So just found your blog recently, I love it!! That Bar!! The kitchen!! All things I want to do!! And I just realized that you aren't too far away! Hope you enjoyed wine country!! Love from Napa!
Calamity J says
You should put one of those beautiful beam mantle above the fireplace. I think that could look pretty awesome 🙂 https://media-cache-cd0.pinimg.com/736x/14/89/0c/14890c5ba7d3c04216973307877feb63.jpg
Jenna Sue says
Good question—all of the tutorials I read used plain old latex paint, so that's what we went with! Our fp is pretty rarely used anyway, and probably won't be again until next winter so I'm not too worried. If its was a permanent solution I probably would have looked into it further 🙂
Callie says
Congrats on the magazine spread, and the living room looks like a brand-new room! Question about the fireplace – do you plan to use the fireplace still, and if so did you use heat-resistant paint? My mom recently painted their fireplace but is not sure she can do the flat tiles on the hearth or if she should use heat-resistant paint – did you do any research on how the paint will hold up?
Cindy @Made2Style says
Congrats on the magazine feature!! That view is spectacular!
Erin says
Looks so great!!! Well worth the crazy job.
gina says
That looks so much better! A chunky piece of reclaimed wood would look great as a mantle. Congrats on the spread in Cottages and Bungalows
Lisa @ Fern Creek Cottage says
The paint color is wonderful and really transforms the room! Speaking of transformations…the fireplace looks loads better! I'm glad you guys got a little break hanging out in beautiful Sonoma. You certainly earned it!
Congratulations on your magazine publication! How exciting! There is no doubt in my mind your new home will be too!
stephanie, sandpaper and glue says
you're right– it does look SO much calmer in there!! worth the tedious-ness of the job! 🙂
Jenna Sue says
Aw, thank you! 🙂
Anonymous says
You are one lucky and talented girl, being featured in all kinds of magazines. Congrats! You really deserve it. I loved your Florida house, especially the sunroom, and i really enjoy following your blog. Thank you for sharing your art and projects with us!