Skip to main content

Checking in....

Thought it was time for a little update on the projects we're working on at Casa LeBaron.  
In living room news, our fireplace is almost finished!  The new tile has been grouted (no pictures yet) and all we have left to do is seal the grout and install the new fireplace doors.  Then I have to figure out how I want to style the mantel- I usually just throw a bunch of frames and things up there but am not sure if that's the way I want to go right now... 
Here's how it's looking (or, here's how it was looking before we grouted the tile):
_DSC1469
_DSC1466
Below is a close up of how we fixed our cabinet doors.  Originally they were oak with horrible brass hardware.  The panels on each door front was cracked and they were U-G-L-Y.  So we popped out the panels, painted the frames, and used my handy dandy glue gun to inset new panels.  The new panels were made from one sheet of radiator screening that we cut to size and sprayed with oil-rubbed bronze spray paint.  We added new handles and sprayed the old hinges with the paint as well (I need to find a paint pen or something that matches to cover up those brass screws).  You can see a little bit of what's in the cabinet from close up (liquor on one side, CDs and DVDs on the other) but from far away you really can't see much.  Love it!
_DSC1473
And a close up of the tile we chose- it's a mix of glass and stone.  We have a slate hearth which we thought would blend but now, of course, it looks totally dated compared to our shiny new tiles.  Eventually we might tile over the hearth too with larger tiles but for now we're going to give it a good scrubbing and apply a sealer and hope that it adds a little shine to the hearth.  
_DSC1471
This weekend we'll get it all put back together and I'll share some final photos!  It's really made such a huge difference to our living room- brightens up the whole space and finally the last of the dreaded yellowy oak in our house is GONE!
Our next project?  Mr. "Can't Be Without Something to Do" emailed me from work yesterday to tell me that this will be arriving at our house in the next few days - in boxes, of course, all ready to be assembled:

So we have a few small trees to cut down in the backyard and need to level off a space for it.  I told Paul I thought it looked kind of big and he said "it's only the same dimensions as our living room- it's not too big."  I'm sure LP and future baby will love it though!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What Winter Looks Like...

(Welcome to anyone arriving here from Blue Zebra Photography !) (Oh!  And this is post # 500 on Ye Olde Blogge.  Wow!) I mentioned earlier that I'm participating in two different photography projects this year with other members of the Bloom Forum .   The second project I'm participating in are monthly photos that relate to a certain theme or word. For January, the theme is "Winter." We've had an odd winter so far here in Massachusetts.  Hardly any snow at all and over the weekend it was actually in the 50's which is pretty unusual.  We did have a brief snowstorm last week though and while LP and Eliza were cozied up on the couch together I wandered around and took a few photos of the scene.  I love how cozy it is in our house when it's snowy out and wanted to capture some images that conveyed that... From the Inside, Out: View From the Back Door: From here you can head over to Kelly Janssen's Photography

February: What Shadow Looks Like

  (Welcome if you’re coming from Suzanne O'Brien Studio in Northern California!) This month’s group photography theme was “shadow.”  I’ll admit, I had a bit of a hard time with this one.  We’re in the middle of the February doldrums around these parts, and while the sun does shine from time to time it’s cold and blustery and damp most days.  It was tough to get motivated and creative about this, but that’s the whole point of the challenge! The kids and I were in the living room one afternoon and LP was lining his toys up on the windowsill.  The (frigid) afternoon sun was pouring in and I realized that there was a sort of lightbox effect.   I enlisted LP’s help in photographing some of his favorite toys (and one of Eliza’s) so he was the “stylist” for this little photo shoot.  I think if we ever have a dedicated play room I might frame some of these photos for the walls! Sophie the Giraffe: Army Guys: Captain America (I never noticed how realistic this toy looks until I too

March: What Home Looks Like

(Welcome if you've arrived here from Laurie Schultz's blog !)  Over the years the definition of Home for me has changed.  Growing up it was, of course, the house I lived in with my parents and my brothers.   Even after college when I moved to another state “home” was still back in that house.   Although my apartments were homey and some of my roommates became like family to me, Home was always back in my hometown in the house I grew up in. Even after moving in with Paul, getting married, and buying our own house, a small part of me still felt like home was back in Pennsylvania.  We were creating our own newlywed version of home but I always referred to going to my parents’ house as “going home.”  This has changed since having children though.  Now home is here- where my heart is, figuratively and literally.  It’s wonderful and exhausting and messy and crazy- usually all at once.  And I wouldn't change any of it.  Now, home is where my hubby takes care of thin