Fireplace Refresh: Giving It Farmhouse Charm

Here's a project we did before we moved full-time to the farm. At that time, I had quit posting in my blog so I didn't get to share it here.

Here's what the living room looked like when we bought our property in 2012. It was all panel except for the fireplace wall which was all brick. The mantel was not only way above the fireplace insert, but ugly as well.

Even though I painted all the paneling a soft white, the room still felt dark and dated. The height of the mantel made it hard to decorate as objects had to be under 23". Most things did not show up well against the brick.

We kicked around the idea of painting the brick but we really didn't want to do that. Then I saw a blog post where someone added shiplap to their brick fireplace wall. I can't remember who it was but I immediately knew that was the perfect look for our farmhouse. I showed Bruce and he agreed to try it. The first thing to go was that ugly mantel.

Then Bruce cut off the brick supports:

We decided it would look good to leave some brick showing not to mention it would be a heat barrier. The bottom rows went on easy.

As we got to the longer pieces, we started running into problems with the boards bowing. I suggested Bruce cut them into shorter pieces, staggering the joints. That helped and the rows continued to go up. I was getting excited about how it was looking.

Finally, the shiplap was all up. It already looked amazing!

My turn now. I primed the wood planks.

Then painted them the same white as the trim in the room. Wow, what a difference - the room was so much brighter!

Bruce make the new mantel with walnut boards that came from trees on his grandparents' farm in Arkansas. It got a simple clear coat to bring out the richness of the wood.

Yay! There is finally room to hang a painting. We chose to hang my train painting as it is one of our favorites.

We are so pleased with how this project turned out. The room is not only brighter but it no longer looks like it is stuck in the 80's. And since we closed in the garage to give us a bigger living room, this room is now the office and library. I had to snap a quick picture - things are a little messy (keeping it real) but it is a cozy spot. 

I still love how it looks 3 1/2 years later. Makes me wish we would have done it sooner!

Next time I'll be sharing how I updated these six old metal lawn chairs. My grandparents had some on their front porch and I always wanted some. I've been collecting them - most came from Canton's First Monday Trade Days - one Bruce actually found on the side of the road. We use them around our fire pit.

Five of the chairs...there's a yellow one as well. 

They are in need of cleaning and repainting so I'm busy working on them. It's turning out to be quite the job as most have peeling paint and some rust. The black one is all sanded and primed and I cleaned the rest of them. I just need to get them sanded and primed too before they get their new coats of paint. Hopefully, I'll be done next week.

Cecilia