Hello again! Another week has gone by in a flash! Easter is just around the corner and the second term of school is about to begin! Dare I say that last part is a relief! Back to routine and a little less chaos around the house!
This weeks Romancing the Home challenge has asked for ideas on dressing a mantle. Unfortunately, we broke ours out when we demolished out old living room last year to make room for the open plan kitchen/living. We had a bit of an awkward one and I'm kind of glad it's gone.
When we moved into this house, there was this corner chimney with a big old anthracite heater in front of it. When we removed it, the carpet (you read right) was all burned up.
We weren't planning to tile or rip up the carpet at that point, so instead we built a hearth with some plywood and tiled it and put it over the area where the carpet was burnt.
I then built a Styrofoam cornice surround which i painted off white and distressed, adding the rock mosaic to the leftover exposed bricks (painted glossy black)
This seems to be the only pic I have, as you can see, it was around Christmas, I think 8 years ago.
More recently, when I was in retail therapy after the passing of my mom, I purchased an old fireplace surround from the Demolition Yard near us, the intent was for beautifying the backyard, which it has done for over three years.
Unfortunately in its time outside, it took on some weather decay and did not look very pretty anymore.
When this week's theme came up I thought about dressing it up outside and realized that no matter how I dressed it, I wouldn't be happy. It was time it got some TLC...
We stripped off the old embellishments, I cast some new ones, sanded and painted and there you have it! Almost as good as new.
Some ideas for everyday dressing would obviously include a mirror, a mantle without a mirror just doesn't make sense to me.
I chose to decorate with things that reflect my personality, books, art, a place for candles and a sculpture are all things that tell a story of me.
The bunnies are a nice feature on, especially with Easter coming up!
I love having fresh flowers in my home, when I do, they must have a place to be showcased! I want to enjoy them for every moment they grace me with their beauty! So a mantle with fresh flowers is perfect! It's a show piece of note and I just love how bright and cheerful it make the whole room!
I do hope you are inspired after reading this, I am a bit of an amateur in the mantel dressing category, but had loads of fun and although I can't tell you what to do, I can advise that you simply HAVE FUN!!!
Do check out the other ladies Blogs for more inspiration!
Wishing you all a beautiful weekend!
Till next time...Keep Romancing the Home!!!