We have a bit of fireplace progress to report! Getting you up to date on the fireplace/built-ins project in the living room today!
It’s been awhile since I’ve updated you on this project, hasn’t it? I thought today might be a good time to update you on our progress. As usual, my motto with this project is “any progress is good progress!” Here’s where we’re at currently with the living room fireplace and built-ins.
So here’s where we’re at:
I think we’re getting closer to the “pretty” parts of the project? I think? You can see that the fireplace surround is closed in now, there’s a nice little nook for the new TV to sit in, and quite a bit of the electrical is done. There will be more to come when we get the bookshelves done, but that may be a long way out still on account of the fact that we need some more wood for those and it’s a bit of an undertaking to get that wood. Or at least it requires a bit more coordination that our usual method which involves visiting Home Depot several times a day for supplies.
So our near future will involve adding some trim to the fireplace surround, as well as a mantel, and painting all of it a nice crisp white. I’m pretty thrilled about the idea of having a real mantel, but of course, spring isn’t really a very mantel-centric season, so I’ll definitely get the most excitement out of that when Christmas time rolls around.
What I’m really really dying to get my hands on is those built-in shelves that will be on either side of the fireplace. Here’s the plan we put together for the whole thing, just as a little refresher:
Of course, I’ve been making plans for those shelves since we started this project in the winter time, so as you can imagine, my schemes for them have had time to get more and more complicated since then. I’m trying to keep myself from being unreasonable though.
Since all I have to show you today are more photos of the unfinished project, here are a couple of shelf photos that have really been inspiring me lately. 🙂
These were Kelly in the City‘s shelves in her old house. I love that the styling is simple and not too cluttered, but it still looks like this whole thing came together organically and was collected over time.
Erin Gates from Elements of Style is a master of shelf styling. She also uses lots of books to style pretty much anything in a home and I love it.
Really looking forward to being able to update you again soon! I hope!
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Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.