Let the fiesta continue

The fiesta in my living room that is.

This week our house was once again filled with worker bees as we renovated our fireplaces (not a literal we...we have mad skillz but not that mad). They were in serious need of repair with crumbling fireboxes and flues. We bit the bullet and went ahead with the $$$ fixes because it's one of the reasons we bought it in the first place and we were going to do it at some point anyway so why not now. Take a look. We no longer have to block them off as safety hazards and energy sucks....Just remembered that we DO have a safety hazard...see the giant gaping canyon in front of the pretty new firebox?

 We had them remove the buckling hearth and now have to reinforce it from below before laying a new one...if you give a mouse a cookie...Now, of truly garish nature, our master fireplace. The shoddily laid pink marble surround is going away along with its interesting mantle, but the firebox is oh-so-pretty. The guys were able to add another 8-10 inches to the depth. What a happy surprise!

And from outside: they built up the chimney to code, new flues, liners, cap, dampeners...the works. Some of those words were probably made up in my mind.

I see some of you are still jealous of our Tar Heel blue house...but as Clemson alum it turns our blood to ice. Sorry, little bro (UNC alumni), its gotta go. 

And the porch?

Almost there. 

Wired and ready to go for outdoor speakers, two fans, and two receptacles (plugs for us SC folk). 

Remember what it looked like before??

Still in the pipeline are our front steps and new walkway (we have to meet with the Historical Society to be approved), drywall hopefully by mid- January, insulate upstairs, reinstall moulding, paint hardwood floors upstairs, paint downstairs...overwhelmed, so I'm stopping. 

In other news, there have been some seriously fun finds recently...

I got this onesie Troy wall sconce from Habitat for $100...retails for $567. He has a future home, but not a current one. And is wonderfully large in person. 

And this table lamp for $180...retails for $840. Shazam. 

Mom got an amazing pair of sconces but I can't find them from any of our vendors and no mo' iPhone means no pictures on hand. 

I have been exhaustively searching for the perfect fabric for our lake house drapes, picky I might be...and it is a lake house so we don't want to break the bank. Today I found this Oscar de la Renta fabric and it will be perfect...it has a hand-made folksy look and beautiful colors. I may just have to go buy the rest of the lot tomorrow before work. 

We are making one pesto, fresh mozzarella, tomato and pepperoni pizza tonight...it will change your life. 

P.S. I am a professional run-on sentence maker. It would make my awesome Aunt Tracey (and little brother) cringe and turn blue, so don't let them read it, Hannah. Just pictures. We don't use sentences in my profession, or math. Calculus was a waste.