More ideas.

So Friday was a good day on the idea front thanks to a forwarded link from Katie. In that single link came two really big ideas: one to solve my fireplace dilemma and another to provide me with the perfect kitchen cabinets for the real kitchen remodel in a few years.

The problem with my fireplace has always been (despite the gas insert someone installed, which I will remove and return it to just being a wood-burning fireplace because there is nothing better than the sound of crackling wood on a chilly winter evening) the fact someone painted over the bricks at the bottom part of it. And I have always wanted a brick fireplace (one of the things the house I bought had to have was a fireplace–along with a big, covered front porch and window over the kitchen sink among a few others) and I was looking at either a) somehow successfully stripping the paint off all the bricks or b) completely tearing it out and redoing it. Neither one a great prospect. But here is this idea ~

Now I realize it is not brick and I am still coming to grips with that (there could be nothing cooler than a wall of old bricks in my house–especially in my bedroom). But I could make this work with the top half of the fireplace and have a great mantel dividing the two. I could perhaps figure out a way to create a border of bricks and paint them black just like this idea (along with the inner hearth). For the outer hearth right now it is some lame ceramic tiles that were laid (but not grouted) when I signed on the dotted line. But I never grouted them because I knew I was going to rip them out. I had envisioned a nice big (it's 18" x 5') slate slab (ideally, one big piece as opposed to tiles) but I am not 100% sold on that yet.

Okay, and then for the kitchen cabinets ~

What I noticed of course right away was the moulding at the top of the cabinets. Uh, which totally matches the moulding around the windows and doors and will go with the crown moulding that I'll hang along the high ceilings (from that earlier post). I am not sold on the supports they have beneath the cabinets and probably will leave that part out because they don't fit with my style, but this was priceless. Even the lower cabinets with the baseboards are perfect. I love the bin pulls for the drawers but would have to replace the small circular cabinet knobs with these because, well, I like squares and rectangles and right angles in my designs.

And I also really dislike dark cabinetry because it's, well, too dark. And makes the whole room darker. So I would paint them (most likely) just white. Or maybe a light grey. But the point would be to have light cabinets contrasted then with a dark (maybe granite, maybe concrete–not sure yet) countertop. And stone flooring (like a dark slate).

Another thing about it that caught my eye that I'll be debating is the wainscoting. Wainscoting is super-classy so I might just be inclined to put it in my kitchen like this, reaching up the walls at least four feet (maybe more) with a dimensional stock border going around it (4" or 5" I think–like the window casing along the sides). And of course then the color of the kitchen would be a rich one that would contrast with the white wainscoting, moulding and cabinetry (not–like this picture–white!).

So anyways, a couple of really good ideas all from one post. I was excited. And thanks Katie.