Home updates - Fireplace

Yet another little update to our house. We decided to replace the tile surrounding the fireplace in our living room. The tile which was there was ok just really plain and boring, builder grade. And since we are making the whole house more "custom" and prettier, it made sense to make the focal point of the living room to be nicer too. Plus with the nice kitchen backsplash so close, the old tile just stood out too much.

Oh and not to mention, there was a hideous brass lip over the top and the hearth was completely open (with just a mesh screen) and Katherine kept messing with the logs and the little rocks inside. 

It is a really quick and easy project and normally CJ could handle it in a matter of a few days but he already had another project going on which was taking up his time, and he was really swamped at work, so we hired the same guy who did our bathroom and living room windows, and he knocked it out in a matter of 3 days. It was totally worth it.

We picked a nice tumbled stone mosaic for the surround and neutral travertine for the bottom. The lip got pained black and we had the guy install a piece of tempered glass with handles over the hearth so the munchkin can't scoop out the rocks anymore. 

Here is the before...

Notice Katherine photo bomb...

Some action shots....

And after!

Closeup of the handles on the glass panel...

Loving it! 

Oh and notice the gray valances I made for this room... And of course the cherry on top is the beast TV that will be hanging above the fireplace soon... CJ has been dreaming about a massive TV for as long as we've lived in this house. When we moved in we put up my 42 inch LG which we bought back in 2008 (we were still dating and CJ actually negotiated a deal for me at Best Buy. Did you know that you could actually negotiate prices in regular stores?) The new guy is also an LG except it is 60 inches, it's LED (super skinny), and it's a 3D capable Smart TV. Pretty cool! We are waiting to have it delivered next week.