Fireplace facelift.....

 I'm back! I forgot to take the picture with the doors in it for the before picture but the doors had the brass trim on them and well.....that just wasn't gonna work and needed to be updated and since I like and need to do my decorating on a dime...I just simply had my husband take the doors off and I painted the brass black using the High Heat paint that I found at Lowes.

So I finished that up and still didn't like the looks of the fireplace and so I just went for it and painted the brick on the inside of the fireplace using the same High Heat paint to clean everything up....now I'm really pleased with it!
Next project will be a long hard one for me which will be the walls and will take me a while so when I come up MIA again at least you'll know what I'm doing.....Have a great day everyone and I'll see ya soon!

Thrift store and TJMaxx finds...

 Ok I had to get my thrifting and TJMaxx fix...I haven't been in FOREVER! Sooo I hit the road. I didn't find anything at the thrift store except for this picture holder that rotates. BUT I've been wanting one of these for a while now and its the perfect metal that I was looking for and I'll use it in the living room once I'm done with it and start "re-accessorizing" I only gave $6 for it and it was brand new! I had to take it out of it's original packaging, it's heavy too so I feel like I got a good deal on it considering that it was originally $30 from Belk and then marked down to $14.99....I figure $6 was nothing! SCORE one for me!

Then I went to TJMaxx and headed straight for the home clearance isle like I always do and ran across this potpourri that was clearanced out at $2! So I snagged that up since it's also the new colors that I'm gonna use in the living room makeover. I also found a serving platter that matches the rest of my pretty plates that I bought last year that is robins egg blue that I also found at TJMaxx last year and only gave $6.99 for it! I didn't take a picture of it because I figured that you all were tired of seeing the dinnerware that I keep showing.
Ok so next I want to show you the fireplace that I painted this week.....stick around cause it's coming up next......

Mirror makeover.....to my liking now!

 Hey everyone! Well I'm finally getting around to showing you the mirror that I painted last week. I've been busy and hadn't downloaded the pictures but have them for you now. Remember I had told you that I found this mirror in a local classified ad for only $40 and it's HUGE! But I didn't like the color cause it wasn't going along with the color scheme that I'm gonna have going on in the living room soooo what's a girl to do???? But......

Grab your paint brush and get busy. After a couple coats of primer and 2 coats of black paint and waaa laaaa there we have it. Perfect! I just loved this mirror the instant that I laid eyes on it and emailed the owners immediately to arrange to pick it up. I'm running so far behind on the remodeling/redecorating of the living room. I've had a lot of things going on this month and it's slowed my schedule down but that's ok. I have to take my time on things anyway although my brain says GET IT DONE FAST AND NOW! Oh well if only my body could keep up with my brain.....I would be like supergirl if that could happen. But I have the rest of winter to get this project done.....I just hate starting something and it drag out forever. I'm still looking for inspiration as to what to hang on my fireplace now that I've taken the wreath off. Not sure if I want some kind of picture, or a nice metal piece with lots of scroll work in it or what yet....I'm kind of at a stand still thinking about that as well as what I'm going to sit on the mantel and the other little nick knacks sitting around. I'm really trying to simplify things so that those few things like my trunks will be focal pieces and I don't want a lot of other things taking away from those. I plan on hanging this mirror on the wall above the trunk that I just redid. There are several different colors that are going on in the room and so I guess that I'll just have to call this style that I'm going for is eclectic/traditional because I'll have the black, and oak pieces as well as the desk that I restored for my husband that he uses for his computer desk. But I think that it will all come together (hopefully) well. Lets see....I still need to find a rug for the room as well and I may have to buy some new sheers to hang on my french doors in that room cause I don't know if the ones I already have will work or not. Today I painted the inside of my fireplace and had already painted the brass that were on the glass doors to black to give it a more updated look. I still need to go outside and get the two cement planters that I plan on sitting on either side of the hearth with topiary in them. Only problem is....I can't find any topiary!!! If you know where I can find some pretty fake ones...of course please please leave me a comment and let me know where I can find some. I checked Hobby Lobby but no luck there. I have to tell you I'm really excited to get rid of the "country/traditional" look in that room. For almost 12 years now I tried my best to decorate the house inside to match the outside which is cedar siding to look like a log home....but that's NOT really my style but I did it because my husband liked it that way.....well 12 years is long enough....now it's time for my style to shine through....I still have to keep in mind though that it can't get to frilly or shabby chic on him. I got away with that in the master bedroom but not sure that I could get away with it again. So I want push my luck. I realized earlier this week that I need one more lamp for the living room as well....I showed you all the 2 lamps that I found but since the lighting in that room is sooooo bad I really need another lamp but I think I have a solution to that problem and the solution should be a quick and easy fix.....use an existing lamp that I have and change the shade...easy enough and so what if they don't match....the style after all is eclectic/traditional so in my eyes when I think of that style I think.....anything that's appealing to myself. Lets see....next small project will be to bring those cement planters inside clean them up real good and put a fresh coat of paint on them. Then on to making some toppers out of an extra panel curtain that I bought and then the big stuff. I'll be taking the strips off the walls and taping and mudding those then painting the ceiling, all the wood trim will be white and the walls will be a very lovely color called toasted cashew which is a very pretty light taupe/beige color that will make the white trim really pop! Boy oh boy now that I've listed everything that STILL needs to be done, it's made me exhausted just thinking about it.....oh well...I'll just move at a snails pace, really take my time so that I don't hurt my back even more that it already hurts and I'll get it done....I just have to stay at it and remain focused, making myself lots of lists.
So anyway, that's what all has been going on around the Brown house lately and why I've been MIA so to speak for a while. I'm busy busy busy. But hopefully I'll have those doors put back on the fireplace soon so I can show you what it looks like now.
Have a great day and stop back by and PLEASE if you have any suggestions on what to hang on my stacked stone fireplace please share your ideas with me. Thanks and I'll see ya soon!

Another refurbished trunk....

 Good news and bad news......the good news is I'm pretty much done with refurbishing this old steamer trunk. The bad news....the before pictures that I took I didn't realize that I didn't have a memory card in my camera when I took them and so they really didn't take. My husband tried his best to see if he could get them off the camera and they are no where to be found. So I'll just tell you that this thing was kind of a mess before. Whoever painted it before I got it had gotten the ugly yellowish beige color all over parts of the wood so there was a lot of sanding that had to be done and most of the metal parts on it had been painting over with the same ugly color and weren't even noticeable unless you looked closely.

 The reason I said this trunk was "pretty much done" is because I don't have my new leather handles and end caps yet to redo on each end. Those are on there way though and will be the finishing touch to it. Those little "feet" that are on the bottom I didn't even realized they were there until I was refinishing this piece...they were covered with paint and blended in so well that they weren't noticeable at all.

 This is the back view.....

And here is a close up of the front latch. I used tung oil on all the wood after I did all the sanding to bring out the color of the wood and put some life back into it and used silver paint on all the metal parts. I lost count of how many hours I had in it but can tell you it was back breaking work BUT was so worth it and I'd do it again. I just love these old steamer trunks and think each time that I'm refurbishing one about all the miles that they have surely seen and about the owner that actually used them for there original purpose.
I'm pleased with how it came out and have moved on to painting that mirror that I found on a local classified ad. It's painted and complete now, it just needs to dry before I can share it with you. I decided to start with the miscellaneous things that are being changed in the living room before I dig into the ceiling, walls and trim in there. That way once the major painting is done I can put everything in it's place and not have to wait on the accessories to be done. I was hoping to have the entire living room done before the end of January but that's ok.....this isn't a small project and I have to take my time be extremely careful not to hurt my back and neck even worse.
If you also have one of these steamer trunks or see one but it looks rough...I hope this gives you an incentive to go ahead and grab it and can see by this post as well as the old post of the other trunk that I did a couple years ago that these pieces can make beautiful pieces in your decor.

Sneak peek at living room decor.....

 Hi all! Been wondering what all that I've been up to....or rather getting ready to be up to??? Well I'm redoing my living room. I've looked at this place the way it is now for 11 yrs and it's screaming to me that it's time for a change and since I seem to do all of my remodeling in the winter time ...... this year want be any different. The above pictures are the lamps that I've chosen...

 This is my drapes that I've picked and the pillows that will be on the couch...

 I found 2 new cozy throws to put on the couch as well so we can curl up and stay warm...I chill all year round at times so I don't mind that they are winter throws and will still be out in the summer...that's ok with me it's all about comfort right?

 These are some accessories that I already had that I had bought a couple years ago that will play a part in the living room once complete....

This is a mirror that I found on eclassifieds....got a good deal on it and will be painting the frame black.....
Ok that's all the peeking you can do for now....I have a few more small projects to work on before I can get starting on painting the walls, ceiling and trim in here. I've chosen to use toasted cashew for the walls and the trim will be bright white. I'm excited about getting it done. So you'll just have to come on back and see how I've progressed.