What a week. Full of changes, saying hello to a new look for the house and saying goodbye to an old friend.

First up. Our newly refinished fireplace. Like the outside brick, our fireplace was made with some really ugly bricks. After many hours of researching and debating colors, I decided to paint the fireplace a bright white. First thing I did was clean the bricks with vinegar and water. Here’s what the fireplace looked like:

Tired, ugly bricks.

Then I got right into painting. I used the same white paint that we used for all the trim in the house, a brillant white gloss from Sherwin Williams.

No turning back now

It took about 4 hours to paint.

halfway there

And done! We are really happy with the way it has transformed the feel of the living room. I still need to tile the hearth and are looking for just the right tiles. We also need to decide what to do with the buck stove insert.

This was also the week that our biggest plumbing job was started and completed. The main water line to the house needed to be replaced and a new water regulator valve installed.

Yeah that was fun. We also had a couple valves replaced in the shower. I can now say that our water pressure rocks! Just ordered a new shower head so can’t wait to actually have water flowing out of the shower head instead of drips!

John also started the “remodeling” of the living room wall. It will be its own separate post but here’s a little preview:

And lastly, last week we said goodbye to our Jack. We had 12 wonderful years with our boy and he is so missed. This post is dedicated to him.