We did it again!! We added a fireplace to our new build home where there wasn’t one to begin with! This time it is even more exciting because of the fireplace insert we are using! I’ll explain below 😉 If you were here while we were living in our previous home you may have seen our DIY shiplap fireplace. We used an electric insert on this project, which we loved! We added shiplap to the ceiling and built a custom mantel. Such a classic fireplace build and 100’s of Blooming Nest readers have recreated it since!! Previous home fireplace project This blog post isn’t going to be as detailed in measurements and instructions. But the photos will do most of the talking!! It was as easy as building the structure and covering it in sheetrock. The most difficult part of this project, for us, was that our ceilings are 18′ tall in the living room! We began by removing the baseboards! As you can see in the image below, we did a lot of sketching on the wall. we drew out the fireplace insert size and sketched roughly the size that we wanted the structure to be! I am very visual when it comes to planning projects and it helps me so much to see it drawn to scale. Rather than building scaffolding, we decided to rent a really tall ladder from Home Depot. This made the project pretty challenging, but we finished the ladder work in one day (thanks to the help of my dad!). We ripped out some sheetrock so that Brett could run a conduit to our “drive through window.” We built two boxes to secure the studs to. We made sure to center these on the wall and made sure they were level with one another. We began attaching 2×4’s to the boxes. The more you add, the stronger your structure will be! We made sure to leave an opening at the bottom so we could frame out to the exact dimensions of our fireplace insert. From the top of the point I wanted the fireplace to slightly angle in. I just eye balled the angle that I wanted 😉 it ended up being 3 degrees. The exact same angle that we did on our DIY vent hood in the kitchen! We built another box that was slightly smaller than the first two so that the sides would angle. We added more 2×4’s! Then we covered the entire structure with sheetrock! It was late at night at this point but we didn’t want to rent the ladder for more than a day so we (they) worked hard! Brett filled in the gaps in the front of the structure with additional 2 by’s so that when we go to mount a tv or mirror later it will be easy to hit a stud! Brett built shelves in the “drive through window” that we will use later for tv/cable boxes!! We covered the living room side with sheetrock! This project has yet to be finished, but on the other side we will finish out the shelves and add cabinet doors! YAY STORAGE! After adding sheetrock, we framed out exactly where we want our fireplace insert to sit! I’ll leave you hanging here for now, 😉 READ PART 2 HERE, which includes finish work, paint, mantle, and tile!! READ PART 3 HERE, all about the insert we chose and the space finished and decorated!! YAY!

Hi!! If you missed part one of this project you can read all about that HERE. After we had the sheetrock installed, it was time to built the mantel. It took me months to finalize this fireplace design and I ended up tweaking a few things even during the building process. It turned out better than I ever imagined!! We built a structure for the base out of maple plywood. We mitered, clamped, glued and nailed the corners together for a seamless finish! We also cut out an arch opening in it! This is my favorite detail that we added last minute! Don’t you love it!? Then, Brett built the double mantel of my dreams!!! How did I get so lucky? I dream up ideas (my favorite pastime), ugly sketch them on paper and he brings them to life!!! He is self taught and I admire him so much! He added pieces of 2×4’s onto the structure and made sure they were level. This is what he nailed the mantle into so that it would be supported. So good already right!? Just wait, because it gets EVEN BETTER! We hired our favorite general contractor to come in and do the taping and floating on the sheetrock, paint the entire thing, and tile inside of the arch! They finished in about 2 days. It’s like magic when we hire out jobs because they do everything so well and clean up after themselves!!! (The hole in the wall is for future TV cords) Isn’t the tile gorgeous!? It is from Alexander James Shop, called Magma 4×4. A Blooming Nester recommended that we forgo grout when using this tile and I am so glad she mentioned that because it looks AWESOME without grout. You don’t lose any of the texture. For the finishing touch, we ripped a piece of pine really thin, soaked it and bent it so that the part around the tile would be trimmed out! All we have left to do is wait for our insert to be delivered, TOMORROW!!! Put back our baseboards and decorate!! WOOHOO!! I can’t wait to see the insert and show you and style this mantle for Fall (and then soon for Christmas!). Read Part 3 HERE!

When I saw this unique cabinet pop up on Facebook Marketplace, it immediately grabbed my attention! Within the next few hours it was in my garage! I don’t even know what had happened! ha! It was listed for $100 but I got it for $80! I thought this was a steal considering the piece is about 7′ tall and solid wood!!! We took all of the doors and drawers off so that I could start painting. We also chiseled off the bamboo trim that was on the cabinet doors, and sanded them smooth. I started by cleaning it up and really lightly sanding it. I used regular primer and primed the entire piece. Next I painted 2 coats of Accessible Beige by Sherwin Williams in semi gloss on the outside of the cabinet and ceiling bright white in the inside! Brett used his paint sprayer to spray the drawers and small door fronts because they have so much texture. I decided to cover up the weaving on the top of the piece to simplify it even more and so that the woven drawers and door fronts could shine! Brett also cut me a small square for the top left corner because it was missing when we purchased the piece. The piece came with glass shelves but I had Brett cut me some wooden ones instead and also painted them Accessible Beige. I decided to use the original hardware that came with the drawers because it would’ve been difficult to find something else that fit them perfectly. I found some handles from Hobby Lobby that matched the pulls almost exactly and used those for the doors! …..and voila!!!! If I were to go out and shop for a solid wood piece this size it would cost well over $1,000! All in I think this piece cost me around $200!!! WIN!!

Listen up!!! Because I have the best Christmas gift idea EVER to share with you!! These cookware and bakeware sets from Caraway are so incredible even the person who despises cooking *ahem me* will be excited to use them!! Shop their beautiful collection HERE. Ive been using my pots and pans for almost a year now and love, love, LOVE everything about them. They are nonstick and make cooking so easy!! You should have seen the pots and pans I was using prior to these. I’m glad I don’t have a picture of them to show you, because that would be embarrassing! One of the very best parts about Caraway is their organizers that come with the sets!!! The ones for pots and pans magnet together so you can put them all in a line or all separate if you would like! They always stay nice and neat in your cabinets and its just the best ever! The sets also come with a canvas wall hanging storage for the lids!! I have seen people hang this on the back of their cabinet door as well! So neat and so convenient! I was so happy to see that when they came out with their new bakeware set, they thought of the perfect organizers for them as well! The front straps open up for easy access! If your cookware and bakeware looks anything close to what mine looked like before Caraway, maybe this holiday season is the time to gift yourself something you will use and love for years to come!! Good luck choosing between their beautiful colors!!! Check out their collection HERE!

I searched for hours and hours to find floral pleated curtains, in a print I loved, that were also long enough for our 10 foot ceilings with no luck! I finally decided to purchase fabric and make my own for Squish’s room. Shop the fabric I used HERE! I do have a background in sewing but if you know how to use a sewing machine at all, this will be pretty easy to follow along. I have made my own curtains before and I usually prefer to leave the edges of the fabric alone So all that leave is cutting the fabric to length and hemming the top and bottom! But in this case, I chose to sew in pleating tape to give them a more custom look, rather than just hanging the fabric through a loop of fabric or with curtain hooks. How To: I was able to find pleating tape on amazon! Once it arrived I realized that it is actually from Ikea, so if you have a store nearby you might can grab some there. We already have our curtain rods hung which made measuring for length fairly easy. I needed about 117″ in length for my curtains to hit the floor so I made sure to add about 4 inches to that before cutting my fabric. This would account for where I would hem the panels at the top and the bottom. If you saw on my instagram stories, when my fabric came in the mail it was much brighter than it was pictured online. I decided not to return it but instead us the back of the fabric for a more muted look. At the top of each panel, I folded back and pinned about 1 inch for a hem. I pressed this fold with an iron. Before sewing this seem I placed the pleating tape on top of the fold and pinned in place. I sewed a seam on top and bottom of the pleating table to hold it securely. This was so easy to do! The only issue I ran into is that I planned to use the little hoops on the back of the pleating tape to hang the curtains, rather than using pleating hooks. So I had to cut extra pieces of the pleating tape and sew them on the ends to make sure I had hoops at the edges of my curtain panel.

AHHH! I can hardly wait to grab a paint roller and start on the kids’ rooms!! I am so set on Brenan (Squish) having pretty pink walls in her new room. I plan to paint them Setting Plaster by Farrow and Ball. The bedroom ceilings in our new house are 10 feet! Which is a blessing and a curse, ha! I am excited for the tall ceilings with crown molding, but I will either have to make my own curtains or have them custom made. I need their rooms to have blackout curtains for good sleeping. I have this beautiful green printed fabric picked out from spoonflower. It is so feminine and whimsical! It almost gives off “princess” vibes. The scalloped jute rug, floral art print and green dresser will tie it all in and help keep the feminine vibe throughout the room. For now, she will be in her crib because we don’t want to mess up a good thing. But when she outgrows the crib she will get our beautiful Jenny Lind bed! Here is some inspo I had saved for her room! Source: Southern Living What is your favorite part?? Mine is the curtains, despite that fact that I will have to make them LOL. Tap To Shop

I am having so much fun coming up with vision boards for each room in the new house! I know not everything will be done right away, and plans will probably change, but I still like to have a general direction of where each room is headed. We will need to buy blackout curtains for the kids’ rooms before moving in. Without a plan I may buy curtains that end up wanting to change in a few months. I am trying to avoid that! I have a vision of light green walls in Lawson’s room! I really want a classic, yet modern look for him. I plan to add some youthful touches but ultimately want the room to be able to grow with him. He is growing so fast!! I have the color Verte De Terre by Farrow and Ball plugged in. I know lighting and things will change how it looks in our home, but that is one that I plan to swatch! Here is some Inspo of green walls that I found on Pinterest! So soft and beautiful! (source: Architectural Digest) Checkered pattern is trending BIG time right now, and I have had my eye on this jute rug. It plays into the trend without being “in your face” about it. It’s classic, modern and fun! I have loved this cheetah art from Minted for so long! I almost used it in our previous playroom. I love how it pops against the green wall! And as lawson gets older and interests change I can easily change the art above his bed for a more mature feel! I felt like the room needed some depth so I plugged in these beautiful navy nightstands! I am hoping I can find something similar on marketplace to paint myself and save a little money! Lawson said he loved it ALL!!! That made me so excited because you know how 5 year olds can be! His only request was for a small clock for his nightstand. I was so glad he didn’t say, “A blue and red Legos comforter!” He also helped pick out the ceiling fan! I think he did a great job, what about you? CLICK TO SHOP!

One of my favorite ways to change up decor each season is with printable art! I gathered up some of my favorites for the winter season! I really love adding whimsical art around the house and actually framed 3 of these today! Its as easy as purchasing the prints of your choice, downloading them to your computer and then sending them off to be printed! I usually have mine printed at Walgreens because they do same day pickup and I don’t have much patience ;). You just upload your print to their site, choose your size and then send to your local store! I just print them on glossy photo paper! Oh! And they usually have a promo code you can use! Scroll and shop my favorite whimsical holiday printable art finds!