Wood Stove Slate Tile Surround

After we ripped the carpet out of our second living area and put in the wood floors I knew that I would want a bit more tile on the floor surrounding the stoves so as not to singe the floor with embers from the fire. Please ignore the fact that my wood stove needs to a good deep clean. It gets A LOT of  use during the winter months here (awwwe look how shiny it used to be) and we've been uber busy with the remodel since February.

I purchased the slate tile from Lowe's back in 2002 or so. I'm so glad they still carry it so that I could continue with this project. In 2002, Travis hand milled the redwood mantle piece and built the raised platform with a pallet. We had a solid starting point, over the years the edge tiles in the picture above began to chip and fracture off...which is the nature of slate.  Major dilemma.

My solution was to cut the edges of the surround tiles at a 45 degree angle so that it couldn't shear off. We added tiles to the face of the platform as well as another whole run along the floor. I think that it looks much nicer now. Also, it's great to have an electrical genius as a husband. I get outlets wherever I want them :)

I found that the transition piece that looked the best between the tile and the flooring was a laminate marbled brown. It was not inexpensive, costing much more than a piece of transition wood does, but I'm glad for the splurge as hopefully it's low profile and durability will be a bonus as we trudge in wood and lug out ash in the winter.

Hope you're having a grand week. Stay crafty, or thrifty, or just plain busy.

Book Shelf Makeover: Divine Heirloom White

Well, here I am again. A little more progress each time I come back here and visit with you all. I purchased this bookshelf on Craigslist for $60.00 a while back. It is solid wood with solid wood shelves. One problem, it was dark and dreary and didn't match any of my other furniture.

This shelf usually holds all of my scrapbooks and doesn't look like such a major catastrophe. This is how it has been for the last few months though...while the remodel has been in progress. Heaven help us, there may be an end in sight.

I started priming it before I took the "BEFORE" picture. That's me, all gung ho and stuff. I remembered though and here it is. I don't have a garage so all of my painting either happens on my front porch or in my house...somewhere, usually the dining room. Makes for fun dinnertime conversations and maneuverings.

I really like Zinsser's NVOC Bullseye 123 primer. It seems to give the best coverage. I put on about 2-3 coats. Those crenelations on the top of the shelf were really no fun to paint...just saying. 

I did remove the doors and the hardware and painted it with my Krylon Satin Nickle spray paint. I also added 2-3 coats of Heirloom White satin finish paint. To finish off any painted piece I always use Wipe On Polycrylic. It's easy to apply, doesn't smell very much and dries pretty quickly. Much easier than varnish and doesn't cause a yellowing over time.

Here is the bookshelf in it's finished state. My albums are happy to be home (I purged about 10 games in the process) and the shelf is back in it's rightful place in the living room/office/scrapbook area. It makes me feel so much lighter. I keep all of the children's extra school supplies (paper, pencils, folders, workbooks) in the cupboard portion of the shelf.

I hope that the projects that you're working on are coming along just as nicely.

Thanks for stopping by and hopefully, some day, I'll get to start crafting again ;).