She's a Brick.....

Bet you finished that line in your head if not out loud 😂

We have a completed brick chimney and it's awesome!

 We are both pretty spoiled to having a fireplace, a wood burning fireplace. I'm married to a forester, would we have any other kind?

We did get a wood burning but gas starting fire place this time, however, which granted I'm a mean fire starter (just ask my friends from Nature Crafts at Lions Camp from back in the day...ahem...), we are both going to love the ease of starting a fire on those 5 days a year we need one.

Texas. yep.

Waiting for it's new home.  We went with a 30 inch, the smaller of the two options at our local hardware store, because of the regular 8 foot ceilings and now having a one story home, we won't need as much heat as you would with taller ceilings or a second story, more spread out home.

Back to the chimney...It's a thing of beauty! And definitely makes the front of house look so much better.

This part was hard for T to watch...they had to cut into our new metal roof for the chimney.  We knew this was coming, but T had to cover his eyes. As you can see in the first photo on this blog post, it's all fixed now :-)

Before:

After:

If you aren't incredibly impressed yet...keep in mind the Before photo was taken in September when things were still green and in bloom...the After was taken in January when things weren't so much...

If you remember, the big picture window used to be there, which was nice but didn't leave much space for furniture layout plus it faced the road so not much of a view.

Yes, the picture window gave great light but just wasn't in the right place. If this had faced the property, we would have kept it, but facing the road and having to keep it covered with curtains wasn't cutting it for us.

Rodney and Patrick after taking out the big picture window and installing the fireplace.

We were able to keep the two side windows so we will have some natural light still in the front room but it will feel much more private and cozy with the fireplace in the center.

Camera settings were bright so you can actually see the fireplace...since we have no lights in the house yet. Obviously we are on the hunt for a mantle to complete this once wallboard is put up.

But this wasn't the only brick work. We also needed to add a brick base to the new master bedroom/old garage to match the rest of the house. But there was a problem...when the brick guy matched the house brick, he matched the newer red brick that was around the back porch, not the more orange brick around the base of the house. It wasn't too off but there was a definite difference.

So T, being T...was going to notice it everyday if we let them finish off the house with red bricks. He began digging. You see, we kept finding areas in the front yard where bricks were under the dirt. He dug up easily around 150 bricks. All orange to match the house skirting!

And it was a lot of work. He had to dig, then chip off the old mortar and clean them up. But it was soooo worth it.

The base looks like it was there all along! 

Now that the mortar has dried and they've acid washed the bricks, it's seamless with the rest of the house

And while digging and cleaning, he found two bricks that were handmade...yet another clue to the older homestead that was here before our house.

So to say we have been incredibly pleased with the brickmason would be an understatement.  They did a phenomenal job.

Now...I thought you might want to see the house plans to get a better idea of the bigger picture we are working towards. We hired a designer friend to help us with this part.

This is the original layout, around 1756 sq. ft.

This is what we are finishing out...around 2085 sq. ft.

Hopefully this gives you a better vision of what we are doing :-)

From the left around back to far back right:

-Master bedroom/closet/bath (except our bedroom door is now closer to the back kitchen door)

-kitchen (with deck behind)

-hallway (has three closets)

-guest bedroom (opens to deck also)

-hall full bathroom

-little boys' bedroom

Now coming around to the front of house...far right front...

-J's bedroom

-Front room/living room

-entry way (HVAC closet and front door)

-dining room

-pantry/laundry

And that brings you full circle back to the master bedroom :-)

Our advice is to MOST DEFINITELY have a designer help you with the main plans. Our friend Melinda, a designer in our area, worked with us to get these designs on paper. This helps so much with electricity, plumbing, layout, etc...for the contractors. Granted, I changed a few things as we started working, but that's easy to work with the contractors and subs on as you go. However, we would also add that if you CAN go ahead and get as much down in the plans as you can, the easier things will go for you when the work starts. Melinda, you were awesome!

Now...for a small fun find..well this is more of an addition. This is the original back door that leads to the guest bedroom and I love it. Very simple, very farmhouse.

 

This was the kitchen back door...it's nice, but it reminded me too much of the barn looking doors we had at the log house that I always wanted to replace... Just didn't give us the same vibe.

So while looking for a few inside doors we needed, I met a guy at our local Habitat for Humanity ReStore who happens to own an antique booth in Lufkin. The same store where I had found the most perfect fireplace mantle but it sold before I could get it. Coincidence? I think not.

He has inherited his family's old plantation and stores even more antiques on the property. He invited us to his place to check out the doors he had. We had a great time looking around and not only did we leave with two perfect inside doors but we also left with this...

My new back door :-)

It came off of an old early 1900's farmhouse too, it was meant to be.  I am pretty sure this ranks up there with my new sinks and clawfoot tub as one of my very favorite things we are adding to the house.

We also bought the screen door that originally came with the door and will add that on later after replacing the screen.

Using my trusty orbital palm sander and some 80 grit paper,

I sanded down the door for future painting but hand sanded the wood work you see on the front. T and I had originally thought to remove this, but now that it's on the house, we decided it stays. It's just a part of the charm of the door.  In fact, after lightly sanding it, I have decided to leave it distressed but still paint the rest of the door later.

Seriously, every time I open this door I swoon just a bit. T not so much...because it added some cost to the house having to reframe the doorway and change the light switch box since the door opens opposite of what we planned...whatever. It's AWESOME. And he loves me.

Oh...and the guy who sold these to us...the one who had the amazing mantle I missed? Yea, his partner built it out of reclaimed wood, so if we don't find a mantle we love, he can build one for us!

Here are also a few of those shiplap pics from last post I didn't have from T...it was a lot of shiplap...

and proof that I do work on this house sometimes. Ok, so T has done most of the work, but when it comes to painting, it's all me, he can't stand to paint. I don't get it. Taking something and making it yours or just giving it new life, it's the best part of DIY to me.