The first thing a cabin needs is a fireplace.

Original Listing Photo

I'm going to start with the fireplace since that's pretty much completed. And it was a fun project on the slightly easier side of things, as far as design was concerned. Which isn't to say that I didn't still put a lot of thought into it. And despite dreaming last night that I saw the work in progress and was neither overwhelmed nor underwhelmed ("Can you ever just be 'whelmed'?"), I would say that I am pleased with the final product.

I wouldn't say "cabin" is really the theme of our remodel, but it's probably not a stretch to suggest I'm straying rather blissfully from local design norms - the masonry guys pushed hard for Santa Barbara sandstone - blah. I guess you could safely say I'm trying to bring a little bit of Utah to Santa Barbara.

To start, we had an asymmetrical mid-century fireplace with some sort of marble tile veneer and a stove insert of some kind. Unfortunately, I didn't snap a shot before OG had already yanked the stove out! Demo can be rather cathartic, you know?

After perusing the local stone yards, I considered ledger stone, flagstone and slate, but bucked the trends and went with my heart on this one. Yes, I was daydreaming in June of curling up with a good book by a big, crackling fire in my cabin-y, river rock fireplace. Originally, I was planning to do a natural, stained wood mantel shelf, but the contractor suggested stone and I agreed as I thought it could be interesting (and it meant less work for me in tracking down the mantel!)

On the slightly less glamorous, but just-as-important, side of things, we had them bring the gas starter back to life, repair/replace the back of the interior of the fireplace, fix the damper, and add a spark arrestor at the top of the chimney to bring it to code.

Ah, I can feel the warmth already. This may be California, but somehow it still gets cold here at night! Now I just need some cool fireplace tools . . . . Here's to many nights of relaxing by this lovely centerpiece.