Finally being in a house we own, we were ready to get more hands-on with projects we could accomplish by ourselves as virtual novices, and the den – we actually call it the fireplace room – was just the project to get us started. 

After developing our rough idea, our first call was to Shannon, our close friend who’s also a badass carpenter in Seattle. She stayed over one weekend, took us to Home Depot and helped us choose the right power tools and accessories. And crucially, she showed us how to set it all up and how not to cut off our fingers or nail ourselves to the wall. From the bottom of our hearts, Shannon, thank you for being generous with your time and expertise, we love you so much.

We knew we wanted an English countryside vibe in this room; we envisioned spending cozy evenings around the fire and bright mornings by the windows. Jean Milburn’s house in Netflix’s show Sex Education was a major inspiration. One tricky thing to work with here was the fireplace. This house was (beautifully) built in 1999 by a local carpenter, and few stylistic elements reveal that time period as clearly as our golden oak mantle. It’s a very warm tone, it definitely pulls orange. It’s not something that is in fashion in 2024, and we considered stripping and staining it, or painting it. But Shannon made a really smart recommendation: high quality wood should be left alone, rather than tampered with, because nothing we do to it or replace it with, professionally or DIY, will look better or retain value like the original, gorgeous, wood element. She helped us realize that we bought something well-made, and not to toss the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak, just because 25 years and a thousand interior trends have passed. 

Next we consulted our friend Lauren, a clothing designer friend in Maine with a green thumb and the coolest personal style, on how to work with this golden oak focal point from a color perspective. She took me through a few scenarios and one big question: are we minimizing the mantle, or drawing attention to it? And look, living in the woods like we do, not only do we appreciate wood on an aesthetic level, but also on a spiritual level. Something was alive and then it was cut down to be made into this. So we decided to embrace it and treat it as a furniture piece like the other things we’d be adding. 

With our new tools and skills and plans we’d drawn up, we cut and nailed wood moulding to the den walls and above the fireplace to add a wainscoting type of effect. Big assist here from the laser level Shannon encouraged us to buy. It took us another month to make a final decision on paint color and finish, but in the end we covered the walls, window sills, and even ceiling with this gorgeous deep dark blue-green with a satin finish. We’re already loving filling this room with art, bright colors, candle light, and brass accents. Can’t wait for autumn and winter nights in this cozy room!

– Jess