Building Our Home From The Ground Up

Hey Friends!  I have not done a great job with updating you on our home and how it is coming along.  Mostly, we've just done things to get us by and spruce up the place until we can find the time to actually take on the permanent, "this is going to take a lot of time and work" type projects.

But this weekend, we finally took a huge step towards the finish line and crossed a major project off our list!  Do you remember this post where I talked about the plans we had for the space?  I mentioned that we wanted to build a entertainment unit of sorts, complete with: massive wood beams, glass shelves, a see through fire place, and a motorized TV!

Well, we don't have everything finished, but we did manage to get our beams built, cut, stained, and set!  We also put our glass shelves and mantle in place!  The mantle is my favorite piece that we have ever produced!  So are you ready to see how things look?

Here's the space before we started the project. . .

BEFORE


I need to make a disclaimer real quick:  All of these photos feature Tim doing the work.  I am not the kind of gal who sits down and watches her husband do all the heavy lifting. I am however the only one on our relationship that remembers to pick up the camera! :)

I like this shot of Tim "Tebowing" at the saw.



First, we built the beams and had to dri-fit them in the space.  We put them in place, leveled them up, marked where we wanted our shelves, took them down, and cut the openings for the shelves.  We then stained & sealed the pieces.  Finally we brought them back in the space to put them permanently in place.



The process seems pretty simple, but getting everything straightened out and perfectly level can be quite a challenge!



After a bunch of planning, building, and placing, we finally had the beams, shelves, and mantle in place!  Take a look!



How about a side by side comparison?  "Before" on the left and "After" on the right!



We chose to go with the glass shelves because we felt like they allow the space to keep that open, lofty feel while also creating the zones we wanted.





The mantle is a huge focal point for us!  I mentioned how much I love facets in this post and we decided we wanted to bring that look into our space.  We did it by creating a mold and pouring this mantle with a white concrete!



We still have quite a bit to do to make this piece everything we've planned for it to be.  Still left of the list is: to build and install the see through fireplace, fabricate the motorized television (that will be able to turn from the living space to the office/dining space and move up to our lofted bedroom area), and of course we still have to actually build the loft!  Obviously we are far from finished, but super excited about where we're headed!

We'll keep you updated!