Gina, don’t ever hesitate to ask about a paint color (and thanks for the home improvement magazine suggestion – we’ll get to work on that!). The kitchen is Glidden’s “Gentle Tide.” You can find a full recap of our house’s colors here: http://www.younghouselove.com/2007/12/watching-paint-dry/

Joni, congrats on your house! Our fireplace is in fact surrounded in brick (it goes all the way to the ceiling) and we too thought it was a little too cheesy/man lodge for our tastes. We didn’t even hesitate to paint it… we got started the day after we moved in.

Brick is tough to paint because it’s very absorbant, so it will take a few coats (try starting with some primer if you like). The biggest challenge with our fireplace were the deep seams between the bricks. It took LOTS of time to get our brush in there.

Colorwise I’d suggest keeping it neutral (ours it white). You wouldn’t want to go too bright or colorful, it’s all about making it blend in and look natural. And definitely stay away from paint that’s too glossy (ours is flat, so it maintains the porous look that brick is known to have). And feel free to send us the before and after pics. You know we love that.

-John

sorry if i sounded obsessive with paint, but i’ll ask anyway.. :) whats the name of the color/brand of your paint in the kitchen?? it looks GREAT with your crispy white cabinets!!!

seriously, you GOTTA submit your before/after photos to home improvement mags!!! you deserve a glossy page or two!

:o)

Reading your blog everyday is such an inspiration. I can’t wait until we have enough renovating done to do some major decorating. Then I’m be leaving comments all the time for your advice. : )

And — BAM! — here it is, the perfect solution. I already ordered three of them, for $17.39 including shipping and taxes.

SO worth it.

I won’t be able to put anything very heavy in them, because they’ll be hanging from the ceiling (somehow), but maybe I’ll just stop by Target and steal some weeds from their parking lot!

Hey Jackie,

We’re actually doing some entertaining this weekend and are thinking about experimenting with some lush greenery in our hanging vases. Since green leafy branches or big oversized leaves are super modern and add a pop of color, we were considering using some bright green cuttings from outside or even some fern snippings to add a punch of green (which is already an accent color in the room thanks to some pretty green bottles on the shelves above our dining table). We’ll be sure to take some pics to share, but to give you a batter idea of the greenery I’m talking about, check out the vase on the table in this post:

http://www.younghouselove.com/2008/05/extra-extra-read-all-about-it/

One lush green sprig in each vase might be just the punch that your vases need to feel fresh and modern. And I’ve found that the cuttings last for about two weeks with water in the vase- and because they’re free it’s no big deal to refresh them every once in a while. Hope that helps!

xo,
Sherry