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.         

   

Sofa Makeover For The Home Office Part Two

I'm back today with Part two of the home office sofa makeover (read part one here).  I gotta be honest, I didn't think I was going to finish it so quickly.  I knew I could but I was hesitating so much because I was not looking forward to stapling a million staples with my hand held upholstery stapler.  Came Valentines day and my husband went all hero to the rescue on me.  He bought me a few tools that I've been in dire need of.  One of them was a pneumatic stapler with a 20 gallon air compressor among other tools and lovey dovey stuff like flowers etc... Yes he kinda, no, more like, he completely outdid himself.  I love that man!  Anyhow back to the couch.  And just a reminder or if you didn't see it before, here's the UGLY before that I shared back in January.

What'd I tell you?  UGLY!

This baby went by smoothly.  The air stapler was a huge help.  I started the project in the very end of January.  I sanded the body and stained it but the stain was a little blotchy.  I knew if I was going to tackle this project it had to be done right because I don't plan on doing it again any time soon.  So I took a break and didn't touch it at all in the month of February.  A few days into March I was going to have a get together for some of our family members and my house was a finished and unfinished furniture projects mess.  I had not one but two finished dressers in the entryway/home office plus the couch on it's side and the cushions were on top of our dining table.  I knew I wanted to get everything out of the way before the get together and have additional seating in the home office where the guys always have their drinks and play Domino.  So I got my butt to work.

I sanded the frame again and stained it one day and the very next day I did all the upholstery in a few hours.  I bought new 1 inch batting to add more cushion to the couch and then I did the fabric.  I wanted the ikat prints to be somewhat symmetrical so it took some measuring and centering before doing all the cutting but it wasn't  too hard.  Also I did not want to sew, so I folded all the corners as neatly as I could and pulled the fabric nice and taught until it looked good to me and stapled.  BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM......  The back is a whole different story that I don't want to go into today.  Lastly I sealed the frame with my favorite water based poly as usual.  Look at that wood grain, uh, la, la...

The next day was our get together and we had to attach the cushions back to the frame.  Holly crappola that was a pain in the tush!!!  It took us an hour and a half because the back cushions did not want to go back on.  A lot of sweating and swearing to get them back on but somehow we made it happen.   I'm just happy that I finished and it looks great!  I LOVE the fabric and my husband loves it too so I am a very happy camper.  You know what else my husband loves about this project, that it didn't cost a small fortune ;-)

Oh yes and what do you think of one of my latest Goodwill finds?  This lamp!

I bought this clear globe LED light bulb for it, that thing almost cost more than what I paid for the lamp itself.  I don't know about you but I think it looks pretty cool.   It opens up too for storage, it's pretty neat.  This room is still getting tweaked so once I'm done I'll share the whole space.  I think it's coming together really nice and we like it a lot better now than the first time around.

Here a little before and after, what a difference some stain and fabric can do.      

Sofa Makeover For The Home Office Part One

I started a new project for our home office.  I'm giving this big ugly sofa a makeover.  We bought this piece for our home office sometime in the spring last year.  I didn't want to upholster it right away for a couple reasons.

Reasons 

1. I'm super indecisive about things, especially furniture in our home.  If it doesn't work in a few months it's out.  The couch has proven it's usefulness here, so we are keeping it!  
2. I'm equally indecisive about colors, textures and finishes.  I mean with so many fabrics to choose from, someone out there should be able to relate.  
3. Time!  Yes I work on many furniture pieces at a time but not for my own home. It usually takes years for me to complete a furniture project for our home.  I never have or make time for it.  I'm trying to change that!    
4. Money, fabric is freaking expensive and when you need 6 yards for your own use, well that can hurt.  I'm not one splurge so much on myself.  
5. Upholstery is intimidating for me.  I'm all about sanding, painting and staining but sewing is a whole different territory.

We repainted our home office again and it looks completely different than when I shared our first budget makeover here.  We bought a new-used desk, rearranged things, go rid of some pieces and added other key storage pieces and we needed extra seating so we got this couch.  Everything else started to look nice so the couuch just became an eyesore.  Yes an ugly, burgundy, dog hair magnet, eyesore.  We felt it was time to tackle it.  That meant it was time to finally choose a fabric.  I wanted the couch to be neutral because it's a big piece in the room and it's a big job for me so I didn't want a color I would grow tired of in a year or two.  I also wanted it to have a nice print just in case it gets stains which it will because we have children, a dog and wine spills happen, I mean spills, spills happen in many different forms of liquids.  

I narrowed down my fabric to neutrals, some type of pattern and it had to be budget friendly.  I thought about using a checkered, plaid fabric but the office already has a masculine appeal.  I wanted my husband to feel comfortable and this might sound crazy but I like to decorate keeping my husbands masculinity in mind.  He lives with 4 females (even my dog is a female) so I don't want to have rainbows and unicorns everywhere.  Plus I prefer neutrals anyway so it's a win win.  

A few months ago I used a beautiful ikat fabric to upholster some chairs that I sold and ever since I've been wanting to find a place to use the same fabric for our house.  My husband also liked the fabric since it has a lot of black and neutrals.  Perfect!  This fabric was just under $20 at Joanns.  They were having a 50% off sale, then I went online to check for coupons and they had a one day 15% entire purchase, including sales, BINGO!!!!!  I picked up 6 yards which I think is too much, but better to be safe than sorry, right!           

I already started to take the sofa apart.  It's naked!  

It took me a few hours to get every single last staple out.  Next, I have to sand down the frame to stain it, cut sew and staple a million times!  Yay, not so much, but when I'm done it's going to be worth it.  I can't wait to share with ya'll!