Fireplace Mantle

Quote from son #3 after I asked him what he thought of my latest project: "I hate that color!" Gee, everyone's a critic...

Question: What do you get when you take some old brown shutters,

add two acorn finials,

mix in a little paint,

and throw in some sparkle and shine?

(You get a project that looked simple enough but turned out to be a little more time consuming than I had planned...)

I found these shutters at the Goodwill for $4.99. There were two sets connected by hinges equaling 4 panels in total. I wanted to connect them together so it would be one flat piece that didn't move. My idea was to brace the panels with two thin wooden slats about 3 inches wide.

I went to the Home Depot to buy and cut the wood. Apparently there is a store rule that wood cannot be cut into pieces that are less than 12 inches in width. Seriously? (I'm sure it will be just fine--it's only 8 inches off!)

Here is the helpful young man preparing to cut my 12 inch piece of wood.

(He actually seemed happy when I asked if I could take his picture for my blog.)

(Primer.) So instead of two 3 inch braces, I have one 12 inch.

I was very methodical with nail placement.

(And yes, I do things professionally--I hammer nails on my kitchen table.)

Originally I planned on using the brighter blue color for the shutters. It's a fabulous color but ended up not looking quite right. So I used my old standby, Southern Breeze by Behr.

I used Heirloom White by Rustoleum on the acorns.

I attached a picture hanging wire on the back. (You know the one that will hold 50 lbs--just in case.)

Hung the mirror (from Michaels) over the top on a separate hook.

I threw some crystal and silver candlesticks up. And there you have it, the fireplace mantle.

(The acorns were from a store called Waccamaw. The crystal is from the Goodwill. The mercury glass looking candlesticks were from Marshalls. The silver candlestick--second from the left-- was from the Goodwill for $3.99. It still had it's Ikea tag on it for $12.99)

I'll probably change it around soon but for now I'm enjoying the bling!

(And btw, I LOVE the color!)