Out with the old

We are continuing to remove all the remnants of old-lady accouterments. The fireplace used to be home to a fugly, pseudo-baroque mantel piece that neither Amy nor I liked in any way, shape or form. We planned to get rid of it early on and we've gotten to getting to it. We needed to take care of it because we need to finish up painting. The plan was to re-paint the fireplace so down it came and went out with the next day's trash.

The fireplace is also getting a new treatment. Whoever painted the house last must have really got a good deal on the antique white paint because everything including the fireplace was coated with this paint. The brick wasn't actually 'painted' per se, more like washed over. Not sure if it was a lame attempt at some sort of style or just a half-assed job but in any event it looked like crap. Covering up the hack job required a coat of primer and two coats of semi-gloss white.

After two months, the painting is finally nearing completion. Really, there's only the dining room, doors and the trim in the office left to do. There's also the two bathrooms but we haven't taken down the wallpaper in there so they don't count just yet. I'm too lazy to take on the office right now, I can only hope it gets done sometime this year. The dining room should be finished relatively soon.

Enjoy the photos of the fireplace transformation below.

Ye olde 'before' shot













Fugly mantelpiece













4 screws and it's gone













The Great 31 Sherman Cover-Up 0f 2009


















Best looking painter ever