I missed all of the holiday linky mantle parties, because I was in the middle of doing this (and trying to decide if I liked it).
(This is the view from the other side of the mantle, right after painting).
You may remember my Halloween mantle…
I had a great time with it and became impatient for BSB to acquire the appropriate wall-hanging materials (he’s kind of particular about such things), so I did what everyone else on blogland was doing, and found the 3M command strips. Only, I didn’t find the right kind, and I need to state for the record, that the ones designed for posters, are really only designed for posters, as in they may remove parts of your drywall if you use them with a rigid wall hanging like a picture frame. Not that I would know any of this from personal experience, but somehow, after we took down Halloween, the drywall above my fire place, desperately needed to be painted.
I had wanted to do something with this space for a while to set it apart from the rest of the mushroom-colored drywall, and this hit while I was having a desire for lighter and brighter, and I had already received this color of off-white from Dutch Boy, so I went with it. My neighbor did not like it. She said it looked unfinished. Initially I had thought about going darker like the red wall paper on the nearby stair wall kind of thing, but I thought the white might give it sort of a plaster look-like-it-is-natural-for-a-fireplace kind of feel. I would love to hear your opinions on the paint! But in the meantime, I am really liking it decked out with wintery white decor.
(Lighting in this spot is tricky). I completely shopped the house for this mantle, except for that mercury glass candle that I found unmarked in the Christmas clearance at Target and took home for 50 cents.
This picture initially looked like this…
(I have a set of these from when my FIL redecorated his office–if anyone collects prints of Native American chiefs, let me know). I have plans to use them for pictures of the kids, but since that hasn’t happened yet, I put a light coat of gray spray paint on chipboard and attached this great drawing of white viburnum I printed off from The Graphics Fairy, and just leaned the frame against the wall this time. 🙂 I’m sure I’ll be changing things around for Valentine’s Day soon anyway.
A few of the details…
This was a dark pinkish color from Goodwill (AZ Tour de Thrift). Spray paint to the rescue!
My $0.50 mercury glass candle. Notice the book it is on…
Who’s wood these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
I thought it was too perfect for winter (the other’s I just chose for their white covers).
Do you like my faux apothecary jar? I have yet to acquire one of those beauties, so in the meantime, I set this curvy vase, filled with epson salt on top of a glass candlestick. If I decided I love it, I’ll need to glue it for better stability. And since I couldn’t easily find candles that fit into my candlesticks around my house, I improvised with sparkly things I did have.
I am loving the fresh feel in there for now. But I’d love to hear what you would do paint-wise with that space. It is a unique two-sided fireplace. I’m trying to figure out what feels authentic in our 2006-built AZ home. Opinions?
Tomorrow I will announce the fabulous prizes for the Party Party, and be ready to link up on Saturday!
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I love your winter mantel and your apothocary jar is just genius.
I love your winter mantel and your apothocary jar is just genius.
I have to remember that I can paint/ spray paint anything for a fresh, new look! I love your mantel!
White's fine but the mere fact that you are wondering if you like it means – you don't! I'd go with a neutral (so you can still do whatever you want seasonally on the mantel) but a deeper color if you want it to stand out from the walls.
I'm wondering if I should give in to my all white walls (for now) and see if I can find anything in the house for a display…
What a beautiful winter mantel…thanks so much for sharing it with all of us.
Blessings,
Linda
Love all your thrifty redo's and treasures up there and brilliant to use a Robert Frost book on a wintery mantel! Thanks for linking up!