Paneling the Fireplace - diy

OUR NEW FIREPLACE: 

DIY Wainscoting, Molding, Trim (or whatever else you want to call it)

I posted a while ago that I wanted to paint the built-in shelves that surround my fireplace.  When looking at this room from the kitchen, it always appeared so dark because the brick, wood beam and built-ins were darker in color.  

Before:

After:

For pictures and tutorial on how I built the paneling click here: (this is coming soon!).

I knew I wanted to paint the built-ins a lighter color.  That was an easy fix.  

I painted the built-in surrounds the same color as the new paneling and painted the insides/backs of the built-ins the same color as the walls.  I also added just a little trim to the tops of the built-ins so they would flow with the new paneling.

Before: Built-ins were a mustard dijon yellow (this was actually the color of the whole room when we moved in) and brick on top of the mantel.

I wanted the built-ins and the new paneling to have a cohesive look as if they were designed together.  So I tried to build the paneling with the same style as the rest of the room.

It is more or less a board and batten style.  Very Simple.

My inspirations:

 I found my inspiration on Pinterest and Houzz.  I took bits and pieces from my favorites and created what I hoped would be the best fit for our home and style.

Good Bye Brick!

Views from the kitchen:

From inside the sunroom:

Now I am just trying to decide what to do with the bottom half of the fireplace... ideas?  Right now I am thinking maybe leave the center (right around the opening) brick (I may or may not then paint the center brick white), and panel on the left in a similar style as the top.

I love the rustic beam and I think it will pop a little more if the bottom of the fireplace is also paneled.

Anyone have thoughts, ideas or inspirational photos?

ledge shelf

I had a long empty space of wall that I wanted to fill.

I wanted one of those long ledge shelves similar to this:

This is Pottery Barn's Holman Picture Ledge

I needed it to fit a specific space so I decided to make one myself.  I am pretty happy with it... I made it before I had my mitre saw, otherwise my cuts would have been a bit cleaner.  So it has a bit of a rustic look to it since my cuts were all done with a hand saw.

I found the plans on Ana White's website.  Her blog is amazing - there are hundreds of free building plans!  Check it out:  ANA WHITE LEDGE SHELF

She calls them Ten Dollar Ledge Shelves, but mine were free!  I used leftover wood in our basement from another project!


Some looks from the side:

From the bottom:

From the other side:

Straight on:

I could have bought some shelves for this space, but I wanted one long shelf to sit higher on the wall.  I love how it looks above our church pew.

Baby-Proofing the Wet Bar

Sometimes you have to get creative when baby proofing.

I posted earlier about baby-proofing our cable box.  And also our fireplaces.

We also needed to baby-proof behind our wet bar.

It actually ended up being an easy fix.  I was having trouble thinking outside the box... and then it dawned on me... use an expandable gate and attach it a little higher to just cover the open cabinet.  I originally thought I needed a gate to fit the entry into the bar.

The problem is that they don't sell baby gates that are that narrow.  I looked everywhere!  Plus, this is one of the first things you see when you enter our house, so I didn't want a baby gate to also be the first thing you would see.

Her hand can fit in, but not too far...

And it opens up and swings out of the way for easy access to all our glassware and other bar supplies!

And the outside of the wet bar hasn't been touched!

Other Baby Proofing Projects:

• Fireplaces
• Cable Box