When we bought our home- just over a month ago (seriously, the first mortgage check cleared this morning!)- we knew we needed to replace the carpet ASAP. And we also knew that we didn't want our new carpet to get dirty which it would fast if it went right up to the back door like the old carpet did. SO, we decided to make a tiled area in front of the back door. But that would mean two tiles in the living room. WELL, y'all pretty people know I couldn't have that. Not in my house...it would drive me crazy!! So the fireplace became one of my famous (or infamous) "while we are at it" projects. I think that is how 99% of our last home's updates got done! HA!
Before, both the hearth and the face were a green granite. Not my taste, but I was willing to live with it. But when we decided to do the tile at the back door, I knew it was the perfect opportunity!
Here is the only before picture I have. Sorry!!! I am so bad at taking before pictures! You can't see it well, but the doors were also trimmed in brass! GAG! But don't worry, I took care of that with a little paint, just like I did at our last house! No need for new doors when you have a couple of bucks worth of black paint!!! ;) I will post on that later... moving on....
We decided to use a ceramic tile for the hearth (which is flat so it made it SO much easier) and a glass and stone mosaic for the face. The mosaic tiles were in different lengths and had a lot of character, but I still wanted to do something a little unexpected. So I decided to lay them on the vertical. My dad and husband were both skeptical of this idea. But when they saw it complete, I think they both came around and said they liked it. Probably because they never want to do it again! HA!
We mounted the TV above the fireplace since it wouldn't fit in the built-in that was meant for the TV. The house is circa 1997, and flat screens were still not around then. At least not as we know them now. So the built-ins are designed for a tube TV. As you can see below, we use that space for toy basket storage!!!
The other side is our components. My brother-in-law and dad ran the cables for us, since Cole was at work and couldn't do it. I have gotten lots of FB questions about how we did that, so I will try to do a whole post on that process. We already had a plug in on the fireplace mantle (for lamps I guess?) so we didn't have to run electrical, just HDMI. That was a huge time and money saver.
Here is the component side closed up. I am still rearranging the shelves. They have been a fun challenge for me! I can't wait to decorate them for the holidays!!! I love being able to display all of our pictures!!!
Here is the other side of the built-ins....(where to toy basket is)
Overall, I am super pleased with how it turned out!!!
Sorry for the laundry and toy baskets there. And the puffs on the coffee table. Real life is so glamorous!!! ;) 
3 comments:
Looks great! Love the vertical tile!
Thank you so much for your suggestions on my laundry room! I don't know why neither of those ideas even entered my head...genius! I really want shelves...and the open shelving idea may be just what we need to do in there! The hanging rod idea is awesome too...but I actually already have 2 rods on the other wall. And I absolutely love what you did with your built ins...they are decorated really well...I know displays can be hard to do sometimes. And I am diggin' the cross wall too! Doesn't it feel good to get settled in and make a house your home??
Your sideboard and vignette are beautiful! I would frame that embroidery....How gorgeous! Vanna
glass and stone mosaic
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