So, the basement fireplace. I've been vacillating between painting it, cutting the stone mantel off, taking off the steel hood, or covering with paneling or drywall.
It's rustic & huge and it's hard for me to envision how to make it "fit" into the overall finished space. We decided to remove the brick hearth in front of the fireplace and I wanted to replace the brick with some tile that would be flush with the rest of the floor.
My original inspiration for the fireplace was this:
 |
| via |
It's vintage looking, fresh with just a touch of ethnic funk. Love it. Unfortunately, the price tag reflects its cool factor. Which is high.
So I went searching for some tile that would give that look, but with a friendly price tag.
These tiles were all cool, but the price point was still too high.
And then I found IT.
And the price? Oh so friendly.
I plan on repeating the full pattern three times in front of the fireplace.
Oh yeah.
First, we knocked the slab of bricks in front of the fireplace out. The brick came out easily at first, but then it started chipping off and it was slow and tedious.
We started with a sledgehammer and then my father in law helped with the hammer and a chisel. He used the chisel to get underneath the brick and eventually he was able to remove the rest, like a magician.
I am so glad it's gone! It makes the space feel bigger and now the kiddos won't trip over it when they're running around.
Now I am not sure what to do with the rest of the fireplace. I got a quote to drywall the whole thing, but it was too expensive. But it would have been so pretty! Sigh.
 |
| via |
 |
| via |
 |
| via |
 |
| via |
The only thing set in stone (get it?) is that I am laying the tile down in front on the floor. I plan to wait and see how it all looks once the walls are painted and the flooring is in.
The drywall is going in this week and our whole house is a dusty mess. I start painting the trim this weekend and  the walls next week. We're getting closer!
