The heart(h) of the home

I want to celebrate a little bit of progress that has been gradual and not so exciting, but today I suddenly realized that I really like how it's looking and it feels like us. 

We love that the casita has a fireplace, and we loved using it in the Portland-cold. But when we painted the living room a light gray (uhhh, last summer), the fireplace and mantle started seeming out of place, and we noticed the flaws that were previously overshadowed by the crazy wall. Ruben went to town switching out the (broken) fireplace doors, which improved both form and function. The mantle was pretty beat up and was darker than I thought it should be, so I decided to try to remedy the situation. In the midst of the bathroom sanding insanity, I decided "heck, why not add to the dust?", and I sanded the mantle down. Then lots of months later, "when I felt like it", I sealed the mantle with leftovers from the floor finishing extravaganza,  which darkened up the color of the raw wood. I'm still considering whitewashing the bricks a little bit, but right now it is great. A little decorating here and there on the wall and mantle, and it feels like our fireplace. Done, and done!