Inside, I'm surrounded by white as well. Before Christmas, we gave the whole living room a coat of crisp white paint. When I say whole, I mean walls, trim, fireplace, built-ins, the whole deal. Of course, it took longer than I anticipated and I never wanted to see another paint brush again, but I love how it all turned out.
I'll show more on the whole space another day but today, I wanted to share the refreshed fireplace. When I moved into the house, the fireplace was red brick and I covered it in many many layers of primer and white paint in an attempt to give it a little update. It worked out fairly well and stayed that way for several years. However, when I painted the walls white, the fireplace looked absolutely terrible against the crisp white walls. I expected it to appear a bit yellow but I didn't anticipate the dull grey. It absolutely had to go.. asap.
We thought the smart thing to do would be to tape it off and spray paint the brick. Unfortunately, that didn't work at all and we ended up having to tackle it using a paint brush and dabbing paint into all the nooks and crannies. Thankfully, Steph took on this job, while I repainted the built in. You can see the difference in colors. I can't believe how different it looks.
Ultimately, I'm thrilled with how it turned out. It feels so bright and clean!
My favorite part, however, is the large scale photograph that we hung above the mantel. I was contacted by Posterjack, an online photo printing company, a few months ago about trying out one of their products. I knew right away that I wanted to do some sort of large scale photograph over the mantel so I jumped at the opportunity.
I chose to upload one of the beach photos that I'd taken during our summer cottage vacation. I used their editing software to change it to black and white and chose to print it as a 28 X 42 Satin Matte Poster.
Christmas was easy in terms of decorating the mantel but I've struggled with it since then. I don't want it to appear too busy since the built-in cabinet beside it is so full of books and objects. I also don't like it completely bare either. For now, I have a few plants and occasionally some flowers. I'm sure inspiration will strike one of these days.
It's been a while since I posted. Life has been busy but I think of my blog and its reader often. I'm not ready to abandon it just yet! I hope those of you who are in the path of the storm are cozy at home today!
*Posterjack provided me with the printing of the poster. I am happy with the product and wouldn't hesitate to use Posterjack again.
I hope you don't abandon your blog! Love the fireplace and the photograph. Your living room is looking so good!
ReplyDeleteHaving just painted a brick wall in our kitchen, I know how brutal it is to get into all those nooks and crannies with a paint brush - well worth the effort though! Photo looks great, too :)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely don't envy all that painting -- and repainting the built ins was no easy task I am sure. It was all worth it though, looks cozy cozy.
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