Fireplace Reveal

I am excited to share the fireplace with you now that it is ALMOST finished. I am back at work from the Christmas break now, so who the heck knows when it will be TOTALLY finished. Ha! So..focus on the part I am happiest about for now...the mantel. :-) 

What do you think? Hold that thought...here is the before picture again. Brass 70's style fireplace surround, brown mantel, and blah brown brick. 

Now what do you think? :-) 

I bought the majority of the knick knacks at Hobby Lobby (where else?) I built the shutters and the window box thingy (official term) myself and added cute hardware from HL. 

Inside the window box are small tin buckets that hold burlap clad plants. (Remember when I showed you the milk crate in another post. Yep, that is what these sweet little plants came in..twofer! Yay!). The tins were just $1.99, not too shabby. 

Now on to the less exciting stuff...cords! It was so important to me that when I redid the fireplace that I hide all of the cords somewhere so that they would not make all of my hard work look bad. So, I went to Lowes and grabbed some cheap mdf trim that had a bit of an edge on it and covered the cords with it. 

Here is my husband helping me get all of the cords zip tied together to keep them as compact as possible so that they will be nice and neat. 

And here is my hubby adding the trim right on top of the cords. Don't worry, the trim creates a gap so that the cords are not smooshed. :-) we just used my brad nailer and added just a few brad nails to the outside and inside edges of the trim to hold the trim in place. I made sure not to overdo it in case we have to change out wires, cables, etc. 

We did have to make s small "hole" into the trim to make the cords coming directly out of the mantle lay a smidge flatter. 

All that is left for me to do is add the paintable caulk to the trim and give it a quick coat of paint to match the trim in the rest of the house and it will be good to go! 

As I am sure you have noticed, I am not completely satisfied with the bottom of the fireplace (hearth) because it needs the same vavroom as the mantel. I definitely have to cover up the BluRay player at the far right on the hearth. I have the perfect idea for that, I hope it works to cover it up well..stay tuned for that update. Of course the left hand side of the hearth is for the firewood and the things that go along with having a wood burning fireplace. 

Well friends, I will keep you posted as I continue to finish it up and style the hearth. Let me know what you think or if you have any southern styling tips for the hearth. 

Blessings, 

Amanda 

Picture Turned Chalkboard

Ten years ago or so I was walking around Kirklands and I found this picture. 

I immediately fell in love with it (I was going through a Shabby Chic, reds and yellows phase) as it went perfectly with my couch, etc. Fast-forward to 2015 and as I look at it hanging on my hall wall all I see is brightness! I have a more neutral, farmhouse, rustic, southern style now and it just doesn't fit with that style. So, I had an idea. I am currently loving the mercury glass look that is being seen everywhere and I decided that since the frame was already gold, I would attempt to DIY it. I also love chalkboards (maybe it's a teacher thing ;-)) so I knew that I wanted to make the "canvas" become a chalkboard. 

*note, on this particular picture there was a hard "canvas"...not even sure it was an actual canvas as there were no brush stokes,etc. I am not sure how this technique will work on a authentic canvas.

Supplies Needed:

For Mercury Glass Frame- 

Rustoleum Mirror Effect spray paint

Spray bottle 

White vinegar 

Soft rag 

Water

For Chalkboard-

Rustoleum Chalkboard spray paint

The first thing that I did was mix half water and half vinegar in the spray bottle and shook it up to mix. I then sprayed the frame with the mixture. Don't saturate it, just several good squirts on the frame all over. 

Next, spray the Mirror Effect spray all over the frame. I didn't tape off the canvas because I knew that I would make it chalkboard anyway. 

Let it dry for about five minutes and then take your rag and splotch dry the water/vinegar droplets off. This will allow the gold to show through a bit giving it that mercury glass look. 

After the frame has completely dried, tape off the edges of the frame with painters tape and spray the canvas area with chalkboard spray paint. 

Allow the paint to dry. 

The best part about having a chalkboard in the house is that you can change it out daily, weekly, or monthly to include your favorite quote, Bible verse, or even a birthday message for each family member's birthday. :-) 

Not my best handwriting, but that's another great thing about chalkboards...they are not supposed to be perfect. 

What do you think? Have you ever done anything like this? I think it's a great way to repurpose outdated art. 

Blessings, 

Amanda 

Switching Gears

Putting the fireplace on hold for a sec,  I wanted to show you my new/old console table :-) 

It started off as a cheapy that I got as a hand-me-down from my mom and I think ended up pretty adorable. I am still getting used to this blogging thing and remembering to stop long enough to take pictures along the way is a little challenging. So...here is the first picture that I remembered to snap...after I had already painted it griege. I had just gone through 12 sample paints from Lowes and Home Depot trying to get the best color for my refreshed living room, so I decided to use one of those samples for the table. If you are interested, the color I went with is called Ivory Brown from Valspar. 

After I painted everything twice, I distressed the edges a little with a fine sanding block because I adore the look of distressed furniture (and, more importantly, I have three kiddos and know that it will get distressed anyway..so why not start with it that way?).

Then, I found an adorable mercury glass style knob for the drawer at Hobby Lobby during the 50% off metal decor sale? Love that place! Scored it for around $4 bucks! 

Here is the finished table. I love it! Although I have purchased a few things for it, I haven't gotten around to styling it yet because I haven't redone the entryway walls yet and done want to see it all set up until then...ha, ha.. I know I'm weird. 

Oh, but before I go and because I know you all love a great deal like I do, I got the wire crate at Hobby Lobby (are you sensing a pattern here?) It was originally filled with six little burlap plant arrangements that I bought to decorate the fireplace with (more on that later) and then I repurposed the crate with clear, glass milk bottles that I found at Michaels for $1.50 each. I love the farmhouse look. Not sure where this will end up in my house, but what a great deal! 

What do you think? Better huh? :-) What projects are you working on? I would love to hear from you. 

Blessings, 

Amanda