basement fireplace makeover

Hey friends! Happy Tuesday. I know it feels like a Monday, but the good news is Friday will come one day sooner this week! I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. I had a wonderfully relaxing yet productive weekend with my family, which sounds like an oxymoron but is true none the less.

I finally finished up the fireplace makeover my dad and I (mostly my dad) worked on while he was visiting with us last month. Do you remember the fireplace in our basement that I gave a super fast chalkboard paint makeover a few years ago? Well, to make a long story short we ended up being forced into a full blown fireplace makeover because of a problem with the gas log insert. Having to replace them meant having to pull up the old granite surround and the whole thing ended up being another one of those "if you give a pig a pancake" kind of deals. It's all good though because the chalkboard bricks were never meant to be a long term solution. And the new look wasn't terribly expensive.........plus my dad did most of the work so that was awesome, obviously! Here how she's looking now!

For the top and around the sides, I went with beadboard paneling (you can find it at most hardware stores). It comes unfinished so you can either stain or paint it any color you want. I chose to paint it white like the rest of the trim in our home and it really brightened up this area of the basement. To save a little money, I kept the original mantel. For the fireplace surround I went these gorgeous distressed wood tiles. I'm slightly obsessed with them and would love to tile our bathroom with these beauties someday! I love the look of this mix of distressed wood with traditional mantel moulding and classic beadboard. It's timeless but not too formal which I think is perfect for a basement.....or a family cave as I've affectionately named it.

I feel like the new look fits in better with the rest of the design style of the house so the basement feels more like an extension of the house rather than a totally separate space.

There's kind of a lot going on in our basement decor wise, so I decided to keep the mantel styling pretty simple. I love the way this oversized clock (World Market) compliments the distressed wood tiles.

I'll be sharing a full basement tour on the blog next week! It's finally looking decent enough down there to share with you all. It's only taken 5 years to get it into semi-decent looking shape..........but who's counting right?!

Have a great 4 day week! I'll be back tomorrow with a fun diy art project!