Black Shiplap Fireplace Wall

We finally gave our fireplace a makeover.  We decided to do an entire black shiplap fireplace wall.  I've been wanting to do something with the fireplace ever since we purchased our home but I really didn't know exactly what I wanted to do until recently.   We needed to move the TV to the wall across from our sofa and this is where things really set off for the fireplace makeover.

When we moved in I always said I'm going to paint the fireplace to give it a little makeover for now but I never got around to it.  The mantle that was there was a DIY by the previous owners and I really didn't like it.  I felt like painting it would buy us some time until we knew what we wanted and we saved for it.  I always thought I wanted built ins for extra storage and display shelves and I new that I wanted to incorporate shiplap, I also knew it would be a project that would take time and a budget needed to be in place.

When we moved the TV to the wall across the Couch (for various reasons that I will get to some other time) I suddenly knew what I wanted.  I was cleaning and puttering around the living room and I just had a vision of what I wanted so I sketched it out really quickly and sent the picture to my husband.  He really like the idea and said "let's do it!"  I love it when that happens.

 On the sketch you can see that there is no storage or display shelves like I thought I wold be adding.  In the end I knew I did not need extra storage and I don't like having too many things on display because I like it when things have a minimal, simplified, clean look.  I did however need extra seating because we removed the chairs to add a TV console.

We took some measurements and off to Home Depot we went to buy our supplies.  We went with 1"x8"x8' shiplap boards because we wanted them to be wide.  Our ceiling height is pretty short so we needed about 16 boards. to complete the wall.  We also purchased a 1x3 straight board to frame the Fireplace and keep it simple.  We used our miter saw to make all the cuts at home and our nail gun and compressor to secure the boards to the wall.  We marked all the studs, and leveled the first row at the top and worked our way down.  My husband did a great job mitering the corners of the fireplace frame.  I then filled all the holes of the nails, sanded them and we got to painting.

This is when things started to get complicated.  Getting in between the shiplaps was almost impossible even using tiny artist brushes.  My husband said it would be better if we sprayed the wall.  Since we already had all the equipment, we just went with it.   We taped up about 5 feet of wall space between the living room and the shiplap wall and sprayed it with the HVLP spray gun and compressor.  It took us a lot longer to tape up the wall than to spray but it was so worth it.  The cracks filled in nicely but I realized after I removed the plastic that grain of the wood felt rough so after we thought we were done, I decided to lightly hand sand the whole wall and give it one last coat of paint this time with a high quality roller so that the wall wouldn't have roller marks.

We also built the benches for extra seating.  We used 2"x8" wood and made very simple benches, we didn't need storage so they were very easy to build.  The hard part was making the cushions.  We bought 2" foam, 1" batting, and faux leather in a cognac color to match with the light fixtures we purchased for the wall.  We purchased everything at Joan's and used their 40% off coupons to save because foam is very expensive.  I had to learn how to use the sewing machine again and it was a pain in the tooshie but it worked out.  I even made a little curtain for the entry door that has a big window.

The light fixtures was one of those things that you make a plan but half way through you decide to make some tweaking.  In the picture I drew I originally had a plant hanging on either side.  I was looking at the wall thinking to myself that lighting would be nice and and since we don't have overhead lighting they would be functional.  I did not say anything to my husband right away because I wanted to find a way to ease in the extra cost but he literally came home from work that same day and said, "you know what, instead of plants why don't we hang light fixtures?"  I swear this guy and I are soul mates.  I shopped around and ultimately found the perfect ones at Target.  I had to go to 5 different stores in one day to find both of them and we drove an hour away to buy one of them.  Lucky for me these gorgeous fixtures were also on clearance.  They are perfect!  I love how the brass pops against the black wall and the wood base looks so good with the leather on the benches.

We went back and forth on what to hang on the middle of the wall but ultimately stuck with the ram head and we like the way it looks.  For some reason it doesn't photograph well, it looks small on the pictures but in person the scale looks perfect, and it doesn't ask for so much attention so it doesn't take away from the black shiplap.

 I scrubbed the crap out of the fireplace to remove all the soot and paint the firebox with high heat black enamel paint since we do use it in the winter months.  

I am so in love with the black shiplap fireplace wall.  I'm so happy that my husband helped me bring my vision to life, we are very proud of our hard work.  The house is slowly feeling more and more like us with every project we do.

Sources

Shiplap ~ Home Depot
Shiplap paint color ~ Gliddens Onyx black
Firebox paint ~ Rustomleum High Heat
Light fixtures ~ Threshold Target
Ceramic ram head ~ Homegoods 
Wood for benches ~ Home Depot
Bench cushions rials ~ Joan's Fabric  mate
  

To see more before pictures of our entire living room visit this post and for a full review on our Ikea Kivik couch visit this post.         

   

Ikea Kivik Review

We have owned our Ikea Kivik loveseat and chaise combination for almost 4 years.  When we bought it their wasn't much information or reviews out there for us to go on because it was relatively new to the market.   So if you are in the market for a new couch and you have been looking at this particular couch here is my opinion (not sponsored) based  on our 4 years of living with it.  First I will explain our reasons for buying this couch and then I will highlight the good and the bad in a pros and cons list.  You will see that it is kind of a love and hate relationship, I can imagine we have all encountered this type of relationship at some point in our lives.

Ikea Kivik Loveseat Chaise Combo

A few years ago we wanted to buy a more stylish, bigger, comfier couch for our growing family.  But like most growing families with only one income our dreams are bigger than our budgets.  We started researching high and low and comparing prices, sizes, materials,etc...  We saw a few couches before we made our decision and finally agreed that Ikea had what we were looking for at a price we were comfortable with.

Pros

• Comes in different sizes and combinations, so we chose the love seat and chaise combo that fit our space perfectly.
• Also comes in different fabrics so we chose the color and texture we wanted.
• The covers are removable and washable so with two little ones this was a huge seller for us.
• The cushions are made of memory foam which makes them super comfortable, we have all had our share of naps on it.  
• It is modern with clean, straight lines that fit our style.
• The price was right!  When compared to others we liked, this one came in hundreds if not thousands less.
• With regular re-fluffing of the back cushions they look good as new every time. 

Cons

• We moved and it fits in our living room but with the chaise combination it leaves us with only one furniture placement option, in front of the window (this is not the Kivik's fault though).
• Which brings us to another problem because the light coming in from the window is fading the fabric and turning our grey couch into a purple spotted couch.  Thankfully Ikea sells covers separately at an affordable price. 
• We sometimes have to disassemble it with the tools provided to remove a slipcover we need to wash.  
• We have to wrestle the slipcovers back on because they are very tight and the seams don't line up straight after putting it back together.
• I have to fix the back and seat cushions everyday because they become deformed and slide forward from sitting (not a huge deal but doing so multiple times everyday is a bit annoying).
• The chaise cushion always sticks out a few inches from the couch, even though it is supposed to sit still with the Velcro but it doesn't work.
• The couch weights a lot so I cannot move it by myself to clean under I have to wait for my husband so that we can move it by dismantling the chaise from the loveseat because it's impossible to move in one piece.

Cushions become frumpy after use

After fixing doesn't stick out as much

Before fixing chaise sticks out a lot

After a little fluff and puff good as new again

We've had the sofa for quite some time and overall I have to say we are pretty happy with the choice we made almost 4 years ago.  It fit our style and most importantly it didn't leave us couch poor.  Fast forward 4 years the couch still looks good, it's still comfortable and it hasn't broken or become soft on us.  Sure from the long list of cons you would think I hate it but the reality is we still love it and we agree it was money well spent.  The pros outweigh the cons for us considering how much we spent and that this couch is pretty bad ass to withstand the abuse it gets from two rambunctious kiddos.  I mean my kids jump and play on it all day, they spill food and drinks on it and we are able to just remove the covers and wash them even if it's a pain to put them back on.  We aren't planning on replacing it anytime soon because we have bigger (more expensive and important) things to worry about replacing.  It doesn't fit perfectly in this house as it did in our old one but nothing ever is perfect, we just try our best to make things work when their is no major need to replace them.  If you want more details on our living room you can visit this post from Our Home Tour Page.      

Tables, Tops and Toppings

I was doing a little clean up in the living room and rearranging of accessories and I wanted to share what works for me when styling my table tops.  I like having having different types of tables and cabinets for different functions but I also want them to look nice while serving their purpose, that's where the toppings come in.  My favorite table top toppings are plants, I have one on almost every horizontal surface.  They are beautiful, add color, texture, natural elements and they also help clean the air.  When styling my table tops I like to keep things simple so it doesn't look too cluttered.  Plus, why would I want an end table that's so cluttered I can't even put my glass of wine on it?  I have learned that working in odd numbers and using variation of heights and textures looks best and keeps the eyes moving.

The purpose of my console table is to hold a lamp for extra lighting in the evening and a fan for my husband who is Super Hotttt!!! Ehem, I mean, he gets hot from the heat and stuff.  Anyways, so I have my pretty pineapple looking lamp and a nice metal fan on opposite ends of the table to kind of balance out each other.

But if I had only those two things on top it would look pretty empty, so on the center of the console I added a small stack of books with my pretty brass rhino on top, a small plant on one side and a picture of my daughters on the other side.  I am trying to add pictures around the house, this is something that I am working on because I am really bad at remembering to frame pictures and finding a spot to display them.  Under the console I put a big plant to cover the outlet plug and somewhat disguise the wires from the lamp and fan which I know I can do better but it's good enough for now.

The white wicker and brass side table in between the chairs is my roadside find that you can read about here. It is the perfect spot for setting a drink on top of and to place a tablet or phone on top of while they are charging.  I only put a pretty little jade plant on top since I need the top to place those other things.

Next to the couch I have a long end table with a little drawer and a basket underneath for extra storage.  This table has a really big surface that I love.  I can place a drink and a plate with a snack if I need to.  I have two beautiful plants on top of this table that really seem to thrive in this spot so this has been a permanent spot for them for a couple months now.  The lamp is great for when I'm curled up on the chaise reading a good book. This is definitely my favorite spot in the living room.  The basket holds my daughters favorite board game and a back massaging device.   They are not pretty, which is why they are hidden away in the basket but we use them regularly, so we still have easy access to them.  In the drawer I stash the chargers for our electronics when not in use.

The coffee table has many uses so I try not to have to many things on top of it.  We use it to put our feet up, place drinks, appetizers, snacks, board games, I sometimes fold laundry on it too.  I keep a wooden bowl with the remotes in it, a book or two, a box of wooden blocks for the girls to keep entertained and surprise a plant!  The coffee table gets really heavy use in our house.

On each side of the fireplace I have two storage cabinets to hide things like electronic devices, video games, dvds, photo boxes and miscellaneous books.  I have my other pineapple looking lamp on top of one of the cabinets with a plant next to it.  I only have two things on this one, which means I didn't follow my "odd number rule" but rules were meant to be broken, right!  I just went with it because I am not sure what I want to put on it right now, no big deal.

 The other cabinet has a big ole circle decorative Item to balance out the lamp on the other side, a picture of my girls and a large decorative chess piece.  This might be the only place I don't have a plant on top of at the moment.  

The mantle is hard for me to decorate because of the TV.  We obviously don't want things obstructing the view when we are watching it so I had to decorate high on the sides and low on the bottom of the TV.  I have a large Buddha on one edge and a medium size plant on the other edge with a big wooden hand sculpture in the middle.

 The wood hand has always been my favorite piece, it has been on the mantle since we moved here, but now it is also a sentimental piece because it was a gift from my aunt who recently passed away.  I miss her so much and having things around that remind me of her is very important to me.  

So what toppings do I like on my table tops?  Plants, lamps, sentimental items, pretty to me things, and only a little bit sprinkled here and there, not too many because I need to leave space for my drink!

Linking up to

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Living room working with what we have

 
The first thing we did when we bought our new house was refinish all of the hardwood floors and paint all of the rooms except for our home office and half bath.  After we finished all of that then we started moving all of our furniture and stuff in to our new home. The first living space we wanted to put together was the living room.  We wanted to able to come home in the evening and relax with our family in a space that felt familiar and cozy just like home.  We wanted to make work the things from our previous home to save money and because we love the pieces we have collected over time.

To make the living room feel light and fresh we went with Glidden's smooth stone in eggshell. It is a medium, creamy grey shade that's a nice contrast to the new stain color we chose for the floors.  We then brought in the big pieces of furniture we were going to use in the room.  I knew I wanted to use the green cabinets to flank the fire place and they fit perfectly.

We chose to mount the TV over the fireplace because the living room is small.  First we tried bringing in our TV console and played around with furniture arrangements but it just didn't fit because we wanted to add extra seating.  After moving everything around we decided this was the best furniture arrangement for the pieces that we have.  We put our big, grey love seat chaise combination from Ikea in front of the big window and used our end tables side by side to use as a coffee table in front of the couch.

We recently bought the leather wing back chair through Craigslist and the Greek key chair next to it I thrifted and painted distressed black and reupholstered with fabric from an old curtain.

There was a big empty wall I wanted to build a console table for so I checked my scrap wood inventory, drew up some plans. made up some measurements and my hubby and I got to building.  I then sanded  and painted it to look a bit weathered. I accessorized the console table with some books, my rhino from West Elm, a metal fan to keep us cool, a picture of our princesses and an old pineapple shaped lamp I spray painted white and bought a fabric lamp shade for.  It is a pair, I have the other one on one of the green cabinets.  I hung a faux bamboo mirror over the console that I spray painted glossy white.  More details and pictures of the console table here.

 All of the accessorize were from our old home.  We didn't spend any money accessorizing this room or in furniture aside from the leather wing back chair. The rug is a Moroccan shag rug from Home Goods.  It was from our old master bedroom it fit in here perfectly.  The curtains are the white vivan curtains from Ikea we used them in almost every room in our old house.  I added a few plants around the living room for fresh air and because I love having plants in every room.  The hourglass stool we bought through Craigslist.

The wooden hand on the mantle was a gift from my aunt, it's my favorite piece.  The Buddha was a birthday gift from my husband a few years ago.  The large wall panel over the set of chairs we also bought through Craigslist.

As you can see most of our furniture pieces are second hand either from craigslist or thrift stores and I paint them myself to fit in with our home.  The green cabinets next to the fireplace are originally from Pier 1 but of course i bought them second hand and painted them in different shades of green, glazed them and distressed them.

The side tables that are now our coffee table are also second hand and I painted, glazed and distressed them.  Buying used pieces allows us to save money, have unique, good quality pieces that we love and at the same time we are being green by reusing these pieces that could otherwise end up in a dumpster.

There are a lot of things I want to do to this room, it isn't yet finished.  I want to finish painting all the trim, windows, and the doors.  The fire place needs a make over, I don't know what to do with it yet. I want to add more texture with window shades and in other forms.  We want to add overhead, recess lights.  There will always be tweaking here and there but our living room is now a comfortable, livable and beautiful room that feels just like home to us.  That's all that matters!!!