Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Graceland: The Fireplace

I meant to write this post over the weekend but I spent all day Saturday and all day Sunday at Graceland to the point where I came home, ate dinner, and crawled into bed even though it was still light out. I'm also dealing with week two of some really horrendous seasonal allergies and am constantly exhausted, so the last thing I wanted to do was turn on my computer. Not that I had the energy to write anyways.


Last week, realizing just how much we had left to do, I decided not to paint the fireplace. There was just too much to get done in a very short span of time and the fireplace didn't need to be painted so I erased it from my list. But then on Saturday, after my dad left early and I was tired of painting the same door trim for the third time (because when painting dark wood doors it takes multiple coats to look decent), I thought, screw it, I'm painting that fireplace. 


Honestly, I felt a little bit scared when I started. What if it ended up looking horrible? After all, you can't just wipe the paint off. And then as I got going it took forever. The picture below took me nearly two hours to do because you have to kind of spongepaint brick because of all the crevices and air pockets. It's not just and easy back and forth and done. You also need to do more than one coat in some spots because the brick soaks up the paint since it's porous. 


On Sunday I conned my sister into coming over and helping. You just have to know what to barter with and in this case I easily convinced her with the promise of Dunks. I had her paint some shelves for one of the downstairs closets and in between letting each side dry she helped me with the fireplace (and also got in some sister time). 


The more that was painted the more I was sure I'd made the right decision. The fireplace was a dated-looking before and in the end it's become a focal point in the living room. But before we get to the final picture... my dad showed up around noon on Sunday, first changing the radio station without asking and then bursting into the living room without so much as hello and immediately whining about how I was ruining the fireplace. (Dad, you were whining. Marissa will attest to that.)


But we trudge ahead and finished and I think it looks so good. The reclaimed wood my father found is the perfect rustic touch (and I can't wait to stage it!!!!). But what do you think? Was I right in painting it or was my father's freak-out justified?


~ Stephanie

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1 comment

  1. Personally, I love the white. I know once you stage it, it's going to be even more stunning. People will easily be able to picture themselves gathered around it.

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