Paneled Fireplace Wall

I recently had a friend come from Oklahoma for a week-long visit.  It was WONDERFUL and relaxing and my kids got used to seeing us drive away in the car and come back much later with shopping bags and carry-out containers. ; )  What a treat!

This is my dear friend, Alisa.

We have previously visited each other in the Fall, but back in January, on a complete whim, I went onto Southwest and looked up ticket prices and then emailed the itinerary to her.  She couldn't resist!! Once her flight was booked, I thought...Oh crap!  I am in the middle of my project season.  What was I thinking??  So we hurried and painted bedrooms and I fixed broken tiles at the entry way and re-tiled the kitchen wall where the microwave had been before.  And I tried (and failed) to get my girls' two twin quilts done. 

 (They are still not done....oh well.)

She even offered to tie the quilts with me while we were sitting around visiting, 

but I told her I had a different project in mind.

I have been drooling over some fireplace pictures on Pinterest for a while.  I loved their clean lines and the crisp beautiful white and the interest of all the lines of the wood.

Like these...

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Funny thing...my husband saw this picture and he said...We've seen that before!  And it turns out he was right.  This fireplace was done by Steve Tiek of Tiek Built Homes.  My brother is married to his sister (I actually went to Steve's wedding reception to be able to see my bother and his family ; )  and about a year and a half ago, my sister in law let me know that he was having an Open House up in SLC.  And we went and LOVED it...and my husband remembered that this was the house.  If I ever win the lottery, I am hiring Steve to build me a Craftsman bungalow with a shed dormer on the second story.   A girl can dream, right?

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This one is an amazing remodel of a really gross looking fireplace in an older home.  You should click on it just to see the before and after!!

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This one is also a remodel that knocks your socks off.  So inspiring to see what can be done to freshen up old homes.

Years ago, when we moved in, I tiled around our gas fireplace and built a mantel out of MDF boards. This is basically what it has looked like for the last 6 or 7 years....  And once I saw these other crisp white ones, I thought mine was a little blah.  ; )

We started out by taking down all my decorations and painting the wall white.  I did this just on the off chance that the wall might show through a bit.  I wanted it to be crisp white like the boards.

Since I was not covering up any brick like some of the projects I had seen, I used the method that The House of Smith's used on their Wood Planked Wall.

I used the exact same material as they did.  A 4X8 sheet of Utility Hardboard from Lowe's cut into boards.  I had them cut at 5 1/2".  It is very important that the top board is level since all the other boards will be set off of that one.  I used two nickels to space the boards perfectly apart.  This is where it came in very handy to have a friend standing by.  She could hold the board and the nickel while I hammered in the nail. I did not use a nail gun, just my trusty old hammer and some finishing nails. 

 I used a nail set to sink them all.  Then I used this amazing product...

(I have seen this at Lowe's and Walmart...but NOT Home Depot)

I desperately wish I knew about this product when I did my board and batten in the Living Room!  Some of those nail holes still drive me crazy! ; )

I covered all the holes with the spackling...let it dry...and then lightly sanded them all.  We did this on a Saturday, starting at about 10 am and by early afternoon this is what it looked like....  It went up so quickly.  It was so fun to do something that was quick and easy!

I then did a quick priming job over these bare boards.  Once they were dry, we cut the boards to "frame" it all and nailed them into place.  (and totally forgot to take pictures! oops...)     

I then painted it all with the same white that I had used on the mantel.
(My favorite paint for woodwork, trim, furniture, dressers, etc. is ProClassic from Sherwin Williams.)

Here's what it looked like once we were done...

While it all dried, we made dinner for the family, played some games, put them all to bed and then went to work on a super fun Valentine's pennant banner (Alisa's idea!).

And this is what it looked like at 1 o'clock in the morning when we finished the banner...

We both stepped away and squealed (it was one o'clock in the morning.)  But we were so excited how it had been so quickly transformed!  I cannot wait to decorate for each season now.  It will be so fun to have this backdrop to set off decorations!

We got these little candle holders at IKEA and I absolutely love the shadows that they cast.

Alisa brought me this cute vinyl and I found this perfect  plate at Pier One on one of our many shopping outings.

I am just so tickled to have this project done.  Normally, I will see a project idea and it will often take years for me to get to it.  But I love that this one was something I had just decided I wanted to try and we just went and did it.  It cost about $25 total!!  And took one day. 

 I wish every project could be so easy!

I LOVE my new fireplace wall and it is fun that every time I look at it I will be reminded of this wonderful visit with my friend!   I have enjoyed the cute Valentine's decor all month but now my kids keep trying to convince me every single day that it is time to change it over to St. Patrick's Day, but only because they want to eat the jelly beans in the glass candlestick. 

 (The candlestick only stays full because I put packaging tape over the top so there is no sneaking! I learned my lesson after last year's magically disappearing jelly beans! )

Now off to Pinterest to search out some cue St. Patrick's decor....