Another home improvement project: DONE!!

Oh the joys of home improvement...or should I say the pain in the ..... of home improvement!?! We have had this project hanging over our heads forever!! Looking back now we should have just left it alone and not done anything but what's done is done and I'm glad it is DONE!

 We had this great idea to replace our fireplace, re-tile it, put a new mantel, really make this room look amazing! The fireplace we had didn't work very well. It burned wood but filled our room with smoke and was not efficient. The tile job was hideous. So ugly! Nate is amazing at tiling and he could really do a great job. We decided to take the old fireplace out and put in a new wood burning stove. Sounds easy enough right?! Wrong! We started this project six or seven months ago! It has been hanging over our heads and we have had problem after problem ever since we started.

After we took out the old fireplace and bought a new fireplace we had a contractor come look at our project only to find out our new wood burning stove did not meet code.  We would need to hire a mason and have a new chimney built. Then we would have to install a new flue. So basically another $3000+!! Great, just great!  Ok, scratch that idea. Let's just wall it up, save the money and move on with life!

So that is just what I did! While Nate went on his second fire I decided it was time to finish this project! He couldn't come home until it was done! My dad happened to be down visiting for a couple days and we were quite the team getting this job done!

This is the fireplace before. The grout was all nasty. The tile job was not done well! We bought all new tile and hearth stones. It was going to look amazing!

Our front room prior to a lot of work! We started the demolition long ago. Nate and my dad even made an awesome and very sturdy platform to hold the new fireplace. When we decided to wall it all up we had to take that out. 

Before we could do anything we had to fix a leaky roof! That was a project in itself! But we stopped the chimney from leaking and then built a frame for the hole in the wall!

Next sheet rock over the hole! What a mess! My entire house fell apart while we worked hard on this one room!

With a lot of spackle and some sanding the hole was gone! Enough spackle can fix anything!!

My dad did an amazing job fixing my wall! Who knew he was a professional?!! 

 

I know my dad loves me because he serves me every time he comes down to Price!! I couldn't have done this job without him! Thank you dad for all your help!! I owe you big time!!

 

You can barely tell there used to be a fireplace in that wall!  I textured the wall so it matched the rest of the wall.

 

 Then I did a couple coats of paint!! But I wasn't done yet!

Last thing I had to do was the crown molding and trim on the floor. Yikes! I have never done this before! But I could give it a try! First time using a power saw! It was pretty awesome! With a little spackle it looks nearly perfect! I have found I get a lot more done while Nate is gone because I can work until wee hours of the night when the kids are in bed! Boy won't he be surprised when he gets home!  Well...Nate was very shocked when he walked in the door! He stood there for a minute just looking in amazement! The kids ran in to hug him and they all said "Look daddy what Mommy did while you were gone!" Nate was very happy to have it done and was grateful that he didn't have to think about this project anymore!

The finished room! I love, LOVE, LOVE it! I am glad that we didn't put in the fireplace. It makes the room bigger! Nate helped put in the new light fixture and yes, we even bought a new piano!