Our New Living Room...Underway

My husband managers a fireplace store here in Washington. It's a small family store, has been in business for going on 33 years. The owner is in the process of turning the business over to his son.

There are few perks to having your husband manage a store like this but the few there are manage to be REALLY good ones (i.e. - a family atmosphere, the people who own the business genuinely care about it, etc.) One of them is the amazing deals you get as an employee.

When we first moved into this house, we purchased an insert from the shop for our fireplace. The insert we really wanted was about 3x the cost and we thought it might be a bit too big for this house. Well...that was a little while ago. We've discovered the original insert just doesn't have the power to heat quite as well as we would like. This house was built in the early 60's. It has baseboard heating. We turn them on only when we absolutely have to (a burn ban, for instance).

So...... my husband worked out an amazing deal with the owner and today this beauty was installed:


I am a bit disappointed with my camera at the moment. The stove looks black. It's not. It is this incredibly rich, beautiful distressed brown. I don't think I've ever heard the complete story of how it is painted but whatever the process, it has been perfected and it is gorgeous. Stunning. I fell head over heels for this stove the first time I saw it and I know I'm going to wake up morning after morning for months, if not years, still not quite believing I am blessed enough to have it in my home. If you can put gorgeous in a box, this is it.

This picture gives you at least a hint of the brown... My husband promises me it won't look black when we burn it so...I'm hoping I can take a few more pictures then.


Here is my husband and his awesome installer, Dean. Oh what beautiful work they do!!! Of course, this now means the living room will have to have the work I want to do in it done sooner rather than later... figure out a new mantel (might have to add a row of bricks because of the whole combustable/clearance thing) paint the walls, the bricks, finish the hearth, install new carpet (ok...that one will probably take a bit), move a light switch, update the light fixture, buy new drapes...and whatever I'm forgetting! Amazing what one change brings to light!


All of that will wait, though. In just a little while... fire...in my new insert... Ahhhhhhh... a perfect winter's evening!