Hey everyone! Have you ditched your New Year’s Resolutions yet? The only resolution I made was to finish more projects! So I guess I haven’t given up yet. You all know how I love to give Mike heart palpitations right? Well this post will surely make his heart skip a beat or TEN!
I hinted to it in my Dreaming of a Fall Mantel post and again in my Christmas Home Tours posts, so he really should be ready for this! Here is a picture of our fireplace and mantel in its “current condition”. I mean, Mike is right (<– don’t tell him I said that), there is nothing wrong with it, but I really want something grand. Something Amazing. Something Beautiful. A makeover for the fireplace and mantel!
I have been scouring social media for images of fireplaces I Love and today I am excited to share with you my findings and ideas for my own fireplace makeover! (Please hold while I administer chest compression’s on Mike!)
Let’s get started!
Look at that shiplap! One thing I really want is to close off the “TV” cubby above our fireplace. In my head I will cover it with shiplap like in this picture. I also love the shelving on both sides of the fireplace mantel. This picture is from Buildingbulleycreek – you can find her on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/buildingbulleycreek/ She has a beautiful home.
A friend on Instagram, Veronica Blaylock shared this beautiful photo of her fireplace during the holidays. I am digging the closed storage and the open shelving shown in both of these examples. Veronica has her TV on the side of the fireplace, probably my favorite part of the arrangement! I am super in love with the fact that the TV is not the focal point of the room. I also love the chunky wood mantel in this picture and white painted surround.
Check out this fireplace transformation from Nelson Table for Two! Again, I am swooning over it because of the shiplap and chunky mantel. I love how they updated this stately (in my opinion outdated) fireplace into something beautiful. I will show Mike this picture after he recovers from earlier! Proving to him that any fireplace can handle a make over…..even ours!
Are you seeing a pattern to the images I love? This photo is credited to Our Vintage Nest, you have to check out her blog, she is amazing! I first found photos of her fireplace during the holidays and absolutely fell in love with how well they were decorated. I was totally jealous of the fact that she could decorate her mantle (without covering any electronic eye) THEN she posted how she finally hung the TV above the fireplace…….NOOOO tell me it isn’t so! She also said at first she didn’t want it hung there, but realized that it worked best for them as a family to have it there and she loves it. I – WON’T – EVER – LOVE – MINE – THERE! Fingers crossed my little plan works out! 
Oh boy I like a good design sketch! You can ask Mike, whenever I tell him one of my ideas, (and he gives me his deer in the headlight look) I end up sketching it out for him! (now my design book isn’t nearly as cool as Joanna’s – just sayin’, but it works) This sketch by Bensimon Design allowed me to visualize my plan in my head. Again, you can see the pattern in all of these photos? White, open shelving, lower cabinetry with doors, chunky mantels……….awwww, beautiful!
Now that I have designs swirling in my head and this collection of images I love maybe I can get Mike fired (haha-no pun intended) to help me upgrade ours! Wish me luck!
[…] Designing a fireplace makeover […]