Fireplace...Some Serious Action.

PART 3 OF 4

I didn't know I was a natural born brick layer. Not.



Enough about wood. Let's talk about the gosh dern fireplace already!

Our original plan for the fireplace was piano wood for the mantel and stack stone for the surround. Even though my later discovered Inspiration Fireplace was all wood, we had already purchased the stone so moved forward with that plan.

Of course it took me a couple years to work up the gusto to dive into the project.

After pondering and searching I fell in love with this fabulous slate for the hearth. Before I slopped down the adhesive, I made sure to plan my placement and marked the tiles with chalk.

The surround itself needed a layer of mesh, then a layer of mortar.

I knew the mortar was cured when it turned in color. The fireplace looked so much better already! Seriously, the 2 x 4's and insulation were getting a bit boring.

Before the mortar dried it had to be "scratched" so the bricks n butter had something to grab onto.

Woo Hoo! I planned and measured, then my man took the stones to the garage to cut them (VERY dusty job...why didn't we do this part in the summer!?), then I buttered them with mortar and stuck them in place. At one point I remember thinking "this is going to be a breeze".



But the job kept going.

And going.

Eventually we finally finished it up. Don't it look grand? We are a very put-your-feet-up, cozy, cottagey, lodgey, outdoorsey type of family so the way it's looking is right up our alley!

Of course we were afraid to sneeze in the room for about a week for fear the stones would come tumbling down.

So far so good.

Tomorrow I'll show you how it all comes together....the original plan, combined with the Inspiration Fireplace, some old wood and some new, plus my Christmas mantel. See ya then!

Linked to :

Blue Cricket Design Show and Tell