Thank you Gary! I am trying to keep up with you......and failing 
Catt....I think that in the long run, you will be happy with the extra room. Some day I will reclaim my family room (insert evil laugh here)
Reinhard....I made the bricked lintel that spans the top of the garage door. I used some wood square stock and etched in some mortar lines with a thin metal nail file. As you can see in the pic, the "bricks" are not quite to scale, nor are they totally uniform, but I think that it gives the "feel" of the real thing. I painted the wood with the brick color and then brushed on a thin wash of the mortar color. I then rubbed the excess off the brick face with my finger.
![[Image: XmQom1.jpg]](https://i.vgy.me/XmQom1.jpg)
Hope that gives you some ideas
Catt....I think that in the long run, you will be happy with the extra room. Some day I will reclaim my family room (insert evil laugh here)
Reinhard....I made the bricked lintel that spans the top of the garage door. I used some wood square stock and etched in some mortar lines with a thin metal nail file. As you can see in the pic, the "bricks" are not quite to scale, nor are they totally uniform, but I think that it gives the "feel" of the real thing. I painted the wood with the brick color and then brushed on a thin wash of the mortar color. I then rubbed the excess off the brick face with my finger.
Hope that gives you some ideas
Steve