Last Updated on December 26, 2015 by Kristi Linauer
Hello! This morning I wanted to stop in and share some quick updates in J & A’s kitchen and family room. First up, the bookcase and fireplace.
When I last showed you, this is what it looked like. Most of the fireplace had bright white primer on it, but the hearth hadn’t been primed, and the bookcase was still the original orange-brown oak.
So I painted the bookcase in the wall color, and gave the fireplace a coat of very light gray. Here’s how it looks…
Quite an improvement, right? The bookcase is definitely less of a distraction now that it’s painted in the wall color.
Now see how the hearth is a slightly darker shade of gray than the rest of the fireplace? That’s because the hearth only has primer on it and hasn’t been painted yet. But when I stepped back and looked at the fireplace at this point, I loved it. I really do like that slightly darker color on the hearth.
So then I had this brilliant idea that I would also paint the bricks that frame the fire box in the same darker gray. It looked great in my head, but in reality, I don’t love it…
Hmmm…I just don’t know. It’s very subtle, which I like. But it’s just not what it looked like in my mind. What do you think? Oh, and in the picture above, you can see at the top of the fireplace (where I couldn’t reach) where it’s still white. See how light and subtle the gray color is? It’s a really pretty, soft gray.
Painting the fireplace actually went pretty quickly. I first used a roller on all of the flat(ish) surfaces, using the biggest, fluffiest roller cover I could find…
I mean, that thing worked amazingly well, getting down into all of the little pits and crevices in the actual bricks. Unfortunately, it didn’t get into the spaces between the bricks, so those had to be painted by hand. It really wasn’t that bad, though. Now if I can just find a ladder that’s tall enough, I can finish the job!
Now I know a lot of you suggested that I put a bookshelf on the other side of the fireplace to balance it out. Well, that’s not possible. It wasn’t visible in the pictures I previously posted, but you can see here that that’s where the door to the garage is. (I have no idea why the sunlight turned the wall purple. I promise, it’s not purple.)
Anyway, let’s move on to the kitchen progress, shall we?
The granite and the backsplash are in now. Woohoo!! The kitchen is inching closer and closer to wards the finish line.
Sadly, I had to take pictures with my cell phone, because I accidentally left the SD card for my camera plugged into my computer. Boo. But of course, when everything is finished, I’ll get my awesomely talented photographer to take really super nice pictures of the kitchen. ‘
A couple of you asked how they were going to deal with the drywall that was really beaten up after removing the tile backsplash.
There are actually two ways you can deal with it.
First, here’s what they did. They used a really sharp utility knife, and cut away (to the studs) the damaged drywall, which you can see on the left. Then they added backerboard in place of the drywall, which you can see on the right. Then they were ready to install the tile.
The second option would have been to install new backerboard over the top of the original damaged drywall. Of course, the first option is preferable because the backerboard is now screwed directly into studs, rather than into damaged drywall.
Well, I’m headed out again. Today, the plumber will come and hook up the sink, the oven will be put back into place, and the outlet covers will be installed. Oh, and I’ll install the lower cabinet doors! I’m so excited to see those installed, but boy am I glad that the granite guy suggested that I wait until the granite and backsplash were finished. Unfortunately, I forgot to remove the drawers, and now I’ve got some touching up to do. Oh well…it’s a process.
Have a great day!

Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
I hope you’ll join me on my DIY and decorating journey! If you want to follow my projects and progress, you can subscribe below and have each new post delivered to your email inbox. That way you’ll never miss a thing!
22 Comments
Beverly Johnson Pennington
April 28, 2011 at 1:07 pmIt is turning out so beautifully! I love the grays and soft whites – just charming!
Cat de Merode
April 28, 2011 at 2:04 pmThanks for the tip on the re-tiling! And I totally like the gray around the edge of the fireplace, keep it!
Terri Roberts
April 28, 2011 at 2:13 pmIt's looking great, can't wait for more pictures.
I like the gray around the edge of the fireplace too, but I'd wait until the mantle is install to get the full effect (unless there isn't a mantle, then it might depend on what is hung on the fireplace).
Stephanie
April 28, 2011 at 2:21 pmLookin' good, girl! Keep it up!
Jeannine Bruner
April 28, 2011 at 2:29 pmIts looking wonderful! I can't wait to see the draperies up & the whole thing all tied together!
Imobiliare Bucuresti
April 28, 2011 at 4:34 pmreally beatifull
m andm
April 28, 2011 at 5:30 pmVery nice. It's always fun to see progress in stages.
M W
April 28, 2011 at 10:57 pmBig improvement painting the bookcase! I like the slightly darker hearth also. May I suggest painting the brass fireplace surround/screen if you hadn't planned on that already?
Garden Forum
April 29, 2011 at 12:15 amI like your new fireplace.Yeah your right it's totally improve 🙂
Ca Powell
April 29, 2011 at 1:40 amI love the fireplace colour! The grey is perfect!
Anne Sullivan
April 29, 2011 at 2:34 amI like the firebox painted the darker color. Perhaps you don't love it yet because of the brass of the fireplace screen? I have a feeling you've got some clever spray painting thing up your sleeve; maybe it'll all work better when that is done?
The kitchen is look fabulous as well!
Kristi @ Addicted 2 Decorating
April 29, 2011 at 4:18 amOh, I'm definitely planning on it. 🙂 I just have to figure out how to get the darned thing off! I looked at it quickly, and couldn't figure it out.
Kristi @ Addicted 2 Decorating
April 29, 2011 at 4:20 amHmmm…I hadn't considered that. Maybe it's the brass that's throwing me off. I don't know how clever it is, but I had just planned on painting it with high temp black spray paint. That's what I did in my mom's family room, and the differenc was dramatic!!
Kristi @ Addicted 2 Decorating
April 29, 2011 at 4:22 amI think I've decided against a mantle because it blocks the view to the door. When I took the old mantle down, I was shocked at how much it opened up the room. So I've got to think of something clever to decorate the massive expanse of brick.
plumbing
April 29, 2011 at 4:09 pmI think it is a positive attitude when you are addicted to decorating. It is fine and for good.
Lee Hynes
April 30, 2011 at 4:51 amI think its a huge improvement but have to ask,is there ay way to remove paint frombricks if you have made the wrong decision?
Kristi @ Addicted 2 Decorating
April 30, 2011 at 5:15 amI'm sure a very determined person could remove the paint, but it would be a major headache, and take way more time than the average DIYer would be willing to spend on such a project. The easiest thing to do would be to re-paint. There are several decorative painting techniques that could be used to make it look like unpainted brick again.
coolerNights
May 2, 2011 at 7:04 amReally nice and informative post…I really like the Way you Describe you thoughts1 keep it up!
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M W
May 4, 2011 at 9:26 pmIf you can't get it off, just mask it off and spray in place!
party bags
May 25, 2011 at 1:09 pmThe bookcase and the fireplace do have great updates! In the dry wall side I consider more effective to install new backerboard over the top of the original damaged drywall than using a really sharp utility knife, and cut away the damaged drywall.
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