Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Exposing the Backside of the Chimney


Who knew my farm boy retired-from-John-Deere dad was an interior designing genius?!!! 

This summer, before we started ripping off the houses's exterior, we were ripping out a little interior.

I"m going to kind of go through the stages of this wall in the sunroom with photos and explain a bit as we go.  Ready?  Here's how it looked before doing much of anything (it had became a catch all for tools, old trim, etc while we worked on the rest of the house!):


Where you can see insulation is actually a door frame that the previous owners had walled up on the other side.  Our plan was to open that doorway back up in to the family room and take all of the paneling off of that wall.

Here's another shot after we removed the closet - oh crap - hadn't expected all that support whatcha-ma-callit - which is helping the cast iron bathtub in Tori's room from crashing through the floor!


So as we start peeling off the layers, upon layers, upon layers... we start uncovering things we weren't anticipating - like bricks!  From the fireplace on the other side!  I was totally in love with the planks and wanted to keep the planks - but what the hay were we going to do about that darn chimney?


Then genius Dad who ain't got no education but loves to travel the world says it would have a downtown big city bistro feel if we left the rustic brick all exposed and dag nabbit Dad, you really do have some Nate Berkus blood in you.  I'm thinking I should probably never put "Dad" and "Nate Berkus" in the same sentence again.

Sorry I have no more photos of the process - it must have been the day mom and I were out furniture shopping in Lansing.  Shopping in Lansing consists of mostly driving around in a lost state of frustration. Unless I'm on vacation,  I don't leave our little town of 900 people, okay?  The big city is NOT for me.

SO what do you think?! Pretty sure everyone that has seen it so far has loved it - except for my mother and father in law.  I didn't exactly get a warm fuzzy feeling from them about those rustic old bricks being open and exposed for all to see  - but I'm sure they'll grow accustomed...








This old window was the perfect fit and we hung it from little chains and hooks.  Ooo la LA.


This cat. :)







What do you think?  Would YOU have exposed the brick?

Here's another before and after shot of the wall, excuse the ladders!


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11 comments:

  1. I love exposed brick, especially when it is all faded and vintage looking like yours so YES, I definitely would have left it exposed it. I love the whole look!!!

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  2. Love the look, cool room, Elainr

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  3. Kammy this is seriously gorgeous, I have a real weakness for exposed brick!

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  4. I love the bricks exposed...definitely a good move!! What a beautiful room transformation!!

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  5. No brainer. When we had a fire in our century home a few years back, all the brick walls are what kept the house from utter extinction. After that, every brick wall that survived I had sandblasted as a reminder. Every time an addition is put on, exterior walls have a way of becoming interior walls and take on the rustic characteristics. Nice job Kammy.

    La Verne@hopeandsalvage

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  6. No brainer. When we had a fire in our century home a few years back, all the brick walls are what kept the house from utter extinction. After that, every brick wall that survived I had sandblasted as a reminder. Every time an addition is put on, exterior walls have a way of becoming interior walls and take on the rustic characteristics. Nice job Kammy.

    La Verne@hopeandsalvage

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  7. Such a cute detail! I love the exposed brick!!!

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  8. Very interesting display area ... love the old brick and of course the arched window is fabulous.

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  9. Yes. I love the exposed brick. I realized that there is a chimney hidden under plastered walls. No fireplace just a brick chimney basement to roof of our 115 year old house. Tried to chip away at plaster in a hidden corner but couldn't get to it. Frustrating. It has never been revealed. Maybe someday I will have a fascinating wall like yours.

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  10. I love the exposed brick. I really think what makes it work is the hanging window. I think I would add a nice green ivy in a rectangular pot sitting on the floor or make a small shelf near the floor. I think having it crawl up the brick would look nice.

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