Fireplace Reveal!

If you missed the first three chapters of our fireplace mantel story, you can catch up here:



Chapter One: A Blank Wall

Chapter Two: Purchasing an Antique Surround

Chapter Three: Fireplace Mantel Update



The short story is that we started with a blank wall with a gas fireplace box. We shopped architectural salvage to find a full fireplace surround that fit our dimensions, style and budget.



We purchased this ugly duckling: solid oak fireplace with at least four layers of paint from as many generations if not more.

A lot of time, elbow grease, and a few dozen prayers later, our ugly duckling became this beautiful swan. We love her!

The details: We used a chemical stripper to get off as much paint as we possibly could. This took a very long time, as each stripped coat of paint revealed another coat of paint, in a new color, underneath. I couldn't be around the chemical stripper or the endless layers of lead paint due to the pregnancy, so my marvelous husband did most of the hard work. As a result, we decided against stripping down to the bare wood and staining and we removed the bulk of the paint and put a fresh coat of white paint on her and called it a project well-enough done.

We also had a mirror cut to size, which we installed.

I picked out this glass mosaic tile at Home Depot-it was only $4 for a square foot and we were able to do all of the tiling for less than $50.

Close up of tile detail:

All of the items on the fireplace mantel are from Joann Fabrics and many of them were on clearance and probably still available to you as I just shopped for them last weekend. I need to pick up some sand to go in my tall glass vases.

The wall color in the living room is Silver Sea by Valspar.