The Big Cabin Fireplace Wall Reveal

You all know that I've been a little overwhelmed lately, (which is a classy way of saying that I feel like I've been run over by a truck and every time I get back up it runs me over again.)  But I do owe you all a big Cabin Living Room reveal, and let's be honest, before and afters are good for my soul.  So let's go on a little journey...

Here's where the Cabin Living Room began just under 2 years ago.  Ouch.

Baby Bo is a little Where's Waldo.

 

First we spent weeks striping wallpaper:

  

And got a clean slate after some paint on the walls and new furniture:

Then we tore out the carpet and laid beautiful rustic hickory wood floors: 

Next I removed the window:

Framed out a fireplace:

Build a pair of built-in bookshelves:

Created a barn wood wall to hang the TV on:

And created a stacked stone fireplace surround:

Finally, we built a mantel, and we have this:



I'll save your finger the scrolling, here's that before again:

And the after:

 

And here's an updated look at the cabin from entering the front door:

Let's get a close up on that lovely wall.

I love, LOVE how the inset cabinet doors that I built turned out.  It was a little, difficult detail, but I think it really makes these pieces feel original to the house and intentional.

We've filled the shelves with all shorts of old and new things that are special to us.  My Mom's uncle carved that wood heron on the top shelf, my parents picked up that piece of driftwood on their honeymoon, and I grew up with that fan which was a relic from early in my parent's marriage (and I remember always hating to be the kid that got stuck with it on hot nights because it rattled.)  A stack of classic books will help to fill lazy afternoons, and I'd hear "Go Jump in the Lake" dozens of times every summer weekend growing up whenever I dared to say I was bored. 

On the other side a basket of binoculars and bird books will help us discover the local fowl, and that wooden loon is a favorite of my Dad's.  The cupboard is packed with games for rainy days.

My Mom remembers taking that box camera on a field trip with her to the state capital in elementary school.  

 

And how cozy will that fireplace be this winter?

But in the meantime we'll finally enjoy our cabin summer the way it was meant to be, outdoors, work free and full of memories.

 Want to follow along on the big cabin fireplace wall project from the beginning?

Removing the Window
Part 1- Framing The Fireplace
Part 2- Building the Built-Ins
Part 3- Finishing the Built-Ins
Part 4- Installing the Built-Ins & Building Barn Wood TV Wall
Part 5- Triming Out the Built-Ins (to make them look "built in.")
Part 6- Creating a Stacked Stone Fireplace Surround 
Part 7- Building the Fireplace Mantel 

Cabin Fireplace Part 7- Building the Mantel

For those of you still with me as I get get lost on this crazy house journey, thank you.  I owe you good, fun, quality project updates, so let's take my mind off my house-reno-that-never-ends and head to my happy place; our cabin up north.  

When I last left you we had created a stacked stone fireplace and all that was left was the mantel.   I had initially built a frame out of 2x4s, but once that big, beefy stone was in it was clear my whimpy mantel wasn't going to cut it.

 

  

It wasn't going to be easy though, as no one on the internet seemed to have my same odd configuration for a mantel.  So I fell asleep a few nights building and rebuilding it in my head, until I came up with this crazy configuration. I built it out of scrap studs in our garage, (those red boards are left over from the addition-that-became-a-brand-new-deck project. )You'll see that I had to make 2 boxes, one that fit in between the shelves, and one slightly wider one that could stick out over the fireplace rock.

You might also notice that the back box was 1/2" taller than the front one.
 

Here's why- so I could fit a 1/2" piece of plywood on top.

Or on the bottom that is.  Once I attached the plywood, I flipped over the entire piece, so that the 1/2" plywood stuck out from the fireplace on the bottom of the mantel for a nice, clean look.

Then I wrapped the sides with 1x8's, mitered to a nice perfect corner.  (I only had to cut it about 7 times to reach perfection.)

 

I built the sides to be 1/2" taller than the studs, so that I could set in a 1/2" sheet of plywood to complete the top.

You'll notice we have cables running behind the TV wall, and if you look close you can see in this pic the hole we drilled where the wires go from this area to the built in shelf on the left. We'll put the last piece of barn wood up with screws so that we can always remove this piece if needed to adjust the cords.

Now that my little Frankenstein was complete, it was time to finish it.  I went back and forth a million times, and finally stained a scrap piece and let the family vote.

Dark was the winner!

And after a couple of coats of glossy poly, we finally had this:

So there you have it. The hard work is done and we're ready for the big reveal.  I promise that I won't keep you waiting long this time.  You all know the before and after is my favorite part!  So stay tuned for what is bound to be a 50+ picture post soon!


Pst- Want to follow along on the big cabin fireplace wall project from the beginning?  Or jump straight to the end?  Here you go:

Removing the Window
Part 1- Framing The Fireplace
Part 2- Building the Built-Ins
Part 3- Finishing the Built-Ins
Part 4- Installing the Built-Ins & Building Barn Wood TV Wall
Part 5- Triming Out the Built-Ins (to make them look "built in.")
Part 6- Creating a Stacked Stone Fireplace Surround 
Part 7- Building the Fireplace Mantel 
The Big Cabin Fireplace Wall Reveal 

The Cabin Fireplace- Part 6

 Here we go you guys, it's been a long time coming, but today we finally make that fireplace a legit fireplace.  Remember this?

For those of you just joining us we removed the window from the wall of the Living Room in our Cabin Up North, framed out a new fireplace, built the bookcases for either side, painted and trimmed out the built-ins and built a TV wall from reclaimed wood.  Whew.

Finally we had the gas man out and made it burn.

With everything installed and working, we could finally close off the fireplace.  We started by covering the framing with 1/2" Durock panels.

If you recall we intentionally choose to bump out the fireplace 6" from the built-ins to give this wall a little depth.  That decision ultimately meant a lot more work for us, as we had to wrap these corners with Durock and stone. Because we don't do easy.  Ever.
 

Speaking of we don't do easy- my Dad thought it would be a great idea to build this fireplace piece-by-piece with actual, limestone, stacked stone.  Not the easy, ready-to-go tile stone you can find at the Tile Shop that we used on our big, bad and beautiful fireplace in The Lodge, but individual, not fabricated, real deal stones.  "Wouldn't that look great?" he said.  "Shouldn't it be authentic?" he said. 

Sure it would Dad.

The process looked something like this.  We laid out dozens of pieces on the floor so that we could piece them together like a puzzle.  We cut a few, but mostly just used what we had.  It was slow going.

It didn't help that we had to carefully wrap those corners so that they looked perfect and seamless.

About four hours later, we made it about this far.

And finally, at the very end of the night we laid the last stone.


It was slow going, but there's no arguing the classic, sturdy look of the authentic stacked stone.  This fireplace looks like it's always been there.

We're nearly at the finish line!  Next up, the mantel and the hearth.  And then we're putting a fork in this project.  I promise. 

Pst- Want to follow along on the big cabin fireplace wall project from the beginning?  Or jump straight to the end?  Here you go:

Removing the Window
Part 1- Framing The Fireplace
Part 2- Building the Built-Ins
Part 3- Finishing the Built-Ins
Part 4- Installing the Built-Ins & Building Barn Wood TV Wall
Part 5- Triming Out the Built-Ins (to make them look "built in.")
Part 6- Creating a Stacked Stone Fireplace Surround 
Part 7- Building the Fireplace Mantel 
The Big Cabin Fireplace Wall Reveal 

Painted Paddle Art

While I was stranded up at the cabin for Spring Break, I not only spent time working on the big cabin fireplace wall remodel, but I also took the time to check a few of the little projects off my list that have been nagging me for awhile.

Just a few...

 

While most were of the smaller, more annoying variety, (i.e. paint the radiators, fix the screen door, etc...) there were a couple of fun ones, like this oar arts-n-crafts project that Ryder and I did together one afternoon while Bo napped. We started with these seen-better-days row boat oars that my Mom found.

As you can see the old paint was hanging on for dear life, so the first step was to take them outside and sand them down completely, first with a heavy 60 grit, and then with a more fine 120.

We didn't need to get them perfect, I wanted them to still look rustic.  I just wanted to get all the previous paint off. Once that was done we wiped them down and I taped off a design.

Then we simply took some craft paint and I put on the first color while Ryder played paparazzi.

Ryder claimed the blue colors, so he painted those very carefully next.  I immediately pulled the tape off in case any of the colors bled.  Success!

We let those colors dry while we taped off the next one.  I was actually really surprised how quickly the paint dried, and it wasn't long until we could come back with another line of tape on top of our previous paint job to add more colors.

By the time Bo woke up, we had two complete and dry oars.  I drilled a pilot hole in each oar, and then hammered a nail through the hole, into the stud of the wall behind it.  Taking the wall from this:

To this:

I love how the colors work perfectly with our West Elm duvet. Just a couple of fun pops of coral in this otherwise cream and navy room give it the perfect mix of masculine with a pretty touch.

The oars seem like the perfect item to fill this big blank space above that wall, without completing with the shelf next to it our the big headboard that will eventually go on the wall directly across from this one.  Remember this plan?

I left on the hardware that used to connect these oars to the boat, mostly because I couldn't get them off, but also because I like the rustic detail.  #IDidItOnPurpose.

I ended up lightly sanding each paddle slightly once the paint dried to give the paint more of a worn look.  With the condition of the rest of these oars, the paint couldn't look too perfect.

So in one nap time we've made a big step forward in this room.  But not only that, Ryder and I also got to do a fun project together, and he was so excited to hang his masterpiece on the wall.

Now if I could just master getting better photos of the cabin for you guys.  With my time up there so limited, I'm finding that I can't wait until the perfect light conditions to get these shots for you.  Not to mention I think I need to read up on how to use my camera better.  You know, in all my spare time.  If you can hang with me in the meantime, hopefully I'll get a chance to get up there and photograph the whole space in optimal lighting for you soon.