Sunday, February 23, 2020

The Sweetest Mantel


One of my BFFs is undertaking a huge remodeling project. She is getting the kitchen of her dreams.
There are walls being removed and she will have much less wall space. She's had a massive purge.
A few weeks ago, she asked me if I wanted her little vintage mantel.
"You bet I do." was my reply.


Armed with access to her house, I made off with the mantel.
I wondered what the neighbors thought.


One of the models in our neighborhood has the master bedroom above the living room. 
The bedroom and the living room shared the same fireplace flue. 
In those houses, the bedroom fireplace is sandwiched between two windows. We have two windows and I always thought a fireplace would look good in between the windows in our master bedroom.
It does!


One issue was how to attach it to the wall. The new baseboards were in the way. 
I really didn't want to tear up the new molding. 

Option #1
Take baseboards off and refit around mantel. 
Option #2. 
Build out the back to fill the gaps caused by the molding. 
Option #3
Cut a molding shape out of the bottom of the mantel.


That is the option we went with. 
I did think that we needed something to disguise the wall and the baseboards.
Sweeping behind the sides didn't seem like fun. Dixie sheds a lot!


We got a piece of faux brick paneling from Home Depot. Bill cut two pieces of scrap wood and attached them to the inside of the mantel. Bill screwed the brick to that.


We used angle brackets to attach the mantel to the wall.


I liked the red brick more than I thought.


I styled it with some creamy white pieces.


The plan was to leave the red brick for a few days but I whitewashed it by the same evening.


I don't care that it's faux. I don't care if it looks faux. I probably won't go to great lengths to make it look remotely real.


Since we have lived in the house, there has been a piece of furniture in between the windows.
Every piece always stuck out in my path getting around the bed.
I lived in fear of stubbing my toe in the night on the way to the potty.


 This doesn't stick out very far so it's not in my way. Yahoo. 

I love the candlestick table next to it. We brought this down from my step mom's house. It didn't really work until we got the mantel.



I will LOVE decorating this for the seasons and holidays. This room always has pretty good light even on cloudy days.


It is darling! 
I love it and I'm thrilled to get this from a dear friend.
This is the only time the candles will be lit. I was a nervous wreck.
Come back on Tuesday for a Pinterest Challenge. It's a mantel this month. How perfect is that?
We also found an amazing fireplace screen on our trip last weekend.
Have a good evening.
Katie 

3 comments :

  1. It looks fabulous, Katie. Really pretty and perfect for your room. Can't wait to see the fireplace screen, too! What a wonderful friend -- and it couldn't look better!

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  2. It is so cute Katie. Looks great. Such a nice treasure to get from a friend.
    Hugs,
    Kris

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  3. Love your new to your mantle, Katie!!! It’ll be such fun to keep it decorated!

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