Fall is here!

But you'd never know it. Here in NH, the temperature will climb to almost 90 degrees with high humidity. HUH???? It's the end of September and how the heck am I supposed to get into the spirit of all things fall with this heat?
I want to go buy mums and pumpkins in the worst way, but the mood has to be right, and it's so much better on those apple picking and hayriding excursions when there's some leaf-crunching going on under foot.

Fortunately, it's not supposed to last more than a couple days, and by my birthday (on the 29th, people!!! wooo! 29 - AGAIN!) maybe it will feel more like the season it's supposed to be, instead of the season that seems to be dragging on in an endless loop!

I am looking forward to lighting a nice little fire in my newly revamped fireplace . I love that cozy, relaxed feeling of sitting by a warming fire. It defines "home" for me. Not to mention it's a nice way to keep our oil bill on the down low.
For anything you ever wanted to know about alternative home heating, follow this link to read up and compare a ton of options. Even if you're in the middle of a heat wave like me, it's never too early to prepare for colder days ahead.

P.S.
As you might have noticed, I entered Remodeling My Space's "Remodel, Blog & Win contest. If you like my style, it would be great if you'd take a minute to drop a vote for me. (just click on that button in the upper right hand corner) Make sure you check out my older posts to see what we've done up to this point.

Proof That I Will Paint Anything

Never in my life had I lived in a house with a fireplace. I dreamed about it since I was little. To me , fireplace was synonymous with "home", and "comfort" , and "Christmas".

When I finally got one of my own, it was a little scary. This was not the grand , beautiful hearth I had wanted. It looked like you would get all dirty and smudgy if you leaned up against it. And there's that dark wood stain again.

We gradually got to thinking about how we could improve upon the look of the "black hole", as it came to be known.

My husband removed the rusted metal bi-fold doors and chain mail curtain..we got a proper screen and that helped a little, but it still didn't fit the picture I had in my head.


Being of limited budget, we agreed that we would have to tackle the beastie in stages. Paint is our friend. It covers up a multitude of problems, sins, and DIY mistakes. A little Warm Muffin on the walls and Swiss Coffee on the mantle, by Behr did the trick...

Tah-Dah!!

But I could not take my eyes off that brick. It was more glaring than ever. I had this sick obsession with it. I thought about tile and a new surround. Bleaching the brick, sealing it, yadda yadda. That damn budget held me back. It was time to suck it up and experiment.

2 coats of Kilz. Burnt umber, watered down and sloshed on with an old t-shirt, and some of the wall color dry brushed on and FINALLY something I can live with!!

Buh-bye black hole beastie!