our fireplace | part 3 {mantle}
I wasn't going to do a third part to this little series but I've gotten several questions about our mantle, so I thought I'd do a quick little one.
This was our inspiration.
{from Centsational Girl, sadly I don't have an exact link to the photo}
Once I tire of the chevron, I plan to have our incredible carpenter back to do the beautiful boxed frame paneling on either side of the fireplace, just like the one in the photo.
{{ We've come so far! }}
Because the brick initially came to the ceiling on one side, we needed to knock some of the brick out to reestablish symmetry.
{and get rid of that AWFUL 30 year old paneling}
After removing the mantle piece, there was still brick jetting out that had once held it up.
My handy husband removed those pieces since they were in the way of the new mantle.
I unsuccessfully tried to photograph the fantastic detail of the different depths.
Directly above the fireplace, the depth is 12"
The mantle's shelf to the right and left is 7.5"
Our plan is to at some point, tile the inside area around the fireplace opening. I'd like to use river rock, but we haven't totally decided.
We will also get rid of the horribly outdated insert and replace it with something like this...
Doesn't that look fantastically cozy????
Love it.
For now, I'm very content with how it looks. The gold in the vintage frame that now rests up above ties together the yucky gold behind the screen.
It's not my first choice, but gold is making a comeback anyway so it's a low priority since our to do list for this house is a loooooooong one!
Glad next Christmas our stockings won't be teetering on uneven brick like they were this year!
Can't wait to see how it changes between now and then!
also see: