Just in time for winter

It's been a while but I wanted to pop in and share with you the end to what has been a very exciting project. Do you remember the mantlepiece we installed at the end of last year?

Secret Crush

Have you ever had a secret crush on someone-thing? And you haven't been able to shake it for years?

One of my old crushes has re-emerged this year - possibly since I've been dreaming up all sorts of lovely mantlescapes I'm looking forward to trying. Years ago, I purchased my very own copy of Vicki Archer's 'My French Life' and within it's pages was the most stunning vase I had ever seen...

Behold le Vase d'Avril Grand Modele 

of Tse & Tse's Bazar

kaboodle.com

quelobjet.com

Isn't she glorious! She'd look equally stylish running along a mantlepiece - with every few tubes holding a tall tulip or crazy daisy to attention - as she would when wandering down the dining table, filled with roses for a special occasion. However good she looks, it's the 175 Euro price tag that stings and this is the one reason why I've only admired from afar.

I have used the as inspiration for my own creations - little Sanpellegrino or Moo Brew bottles lined up have a lovely effect, but they are still missing that certain je ne sais quoi that I believed I might only find in France.

After a long and desperate search over a year ago - I found the Flex Vase at Andy Designs in the US and even tried to order one through there for a fraction of the designer price - but alas, they were out of stock and I never heard from them again, nor did I try to follow it up. Maybe deep down I knew I wouldn't be satisfied with the affordable US substitute.

Maybe I just want a little piece of French Life in my life too. Will 2011 be the year? I'll happily keep drinking Sanpellegrino and Moo Brews to add to my other collections in the meantime...

Stoking the fire

Isn't it wonderful when everyone' imagination runs away with them for a moment! When visiting our friends Di and Matt (the artist) in Castlemaine recently, we all looked at pictures of the mantle and discussed the fire which would soon be burning inside it.
Our thoughts wandered to the warm weather outside as we considered what to do in summer - surely we don't need it burning 365 days a year and we definitely don't need to stare at a blazing fire during one of  Melbourne's inevitable heatwaves.
Matt's words were 'we need a reversy!'. Yes! Why not - one side will have a fireplace and the other side can be an empty hearth - brilliance!
Now where do we find a double sided canvas? Do they even exist? Can someone make one? How will we attach it? Well Trav had the answer to that one straight away, two eye hooks on the inside bottom of the mantlepiece and 2 hooks along the top of the canvas will make 'putting the fire on' a breeze.

So I've started contacting some canvas and art suppliers to find out if it's something that needs to be custom made - and at what cost? Of course, we could also glue 2 canvases together ourselves, but I think this would end up quite bulky and the depth of the mantle walls is no more than an inch.

What's that? Have 2 separate canvases? Nah - I don't want to be worried about unnecessary storage and anyway this other idea is way to clever ... I'll be back soon with my findings!

Hello Mantle!

Ta Da!

What a beauty! She finishes our little lounge off perfectly - and dare I say, even makes the space appear larger! She was definitely worth the princely sum of $41 and a few hours work - and I was rapt that we got it together before NYE!

And a few pretty shots all dolled up for NYE...

I have a feeling you'll be seeing a lot more of her...

PS One of my goals this year is to take better photos!

Summer Project - Day 2

After waiting 24 hours for the first coat to dry - we were ready to put the mantlepiece into position in our lounge room. 

Using the original holes, we fixed the mantle into the wall using these plugs,

 

and then patched up the evidence with builders putty.
Before:

After: 

When it was all attached, it was finally time for the 2nd coat of paint

Can you notice anything wrong with this picture? When measuring the height of the skirting board, we measured the one in the garage - not in the lounge, which was a bit shorter due to the tiles on the floor. So there is a small gap there but it's not something we're worried about, the mantlepiece is reinforced and securely fastened to the wall - but hopefully someone else might learn from this simple mistake!

Next up - the great unveiling.....

Summer Project Day 1

(Or "How to transform your lounge room in 2 days")

I didn't get a chance to get my hands on my new project until after Christmas and I couldn't wait to get stuck into it in time for New Year's Eve dinner at our place.

First I had to sand back the glossy grey/green paint

As we wanted the mantle to stand on the floor, we had to cut into the back of the base to make room for the skirting boards. As you can see, the two side pieces are seperate to the front - so all we needed to do is shorten and remove these.

Trav measured and marked the height of the boards and moved the screws on the base to reinforce the backing.

Then he expertly sawed off the side pieces and using some metal from an old wine rack, reinforced the base.

Once the brackets were in place, we tested out our handiwork in the garage - looking good!

Our trusty site foreman

Finally it was time for the first coat of paint - we had a full tin of Dulux Napkin White which we'd used on all the trim when we moved in, so it's been a very affordable project so far...

Coming up... Day 2!

Happy 2011!

How did you ring in the New Year?

Were you out and about - facing the throngs of people in town for fireworks? Or did you have tickets to one of the big parties? We took it easy and enjoyed an amazing meal with 4 close friends. We hosted, but everyone brought a course so the pressure was off...

 I had more time to decorate the table

 and our new mantle (the full story coming soon!)

 I found every glass vase and jar in the house and filled them with a cheerful mix of blooms

Happy New Year to you all!

Cosy up next to the fire...

That was my favourite activity when I grew up in Macedon - I'd even sit right next to it with a big bowl of ice cream in the dead of winter! So I'm sure you can imagine that I'm looking forward to many moments like this with our new fireplace - and although I know we won't be roasting marshmallows anytime soon, we'll definitely be able to soak up a little ambiance.
No no no - no fireplace dvd's around here, if we were loaded I'm sure we'd have a separate TV mounted inside the frame, just for this purpose (wait - if we were loaded I'm sure we'd have a real fireplace!).

Enter: Matt. My friend's fiancee is an amazing painter and he's looking forward to creating a stunning fire to light up our room. I thought I'd share some of my favourite fireplace images with you...

I always liked the DIY chalkboard idea from JaimeScott...

... but room is tight and I don't think I'd be changing it very often.

This is a very cool design - which you might recognise from my mock-ups...

xxxmassacre

lacking a name

Steve Weber @ Fine Art America

These last 2 are courtesy of Casa Sugar ...

I'm definitely leaning toward a more vibrant, abstract look, and can't wait to see what Matt has in mind when we visit this week!

I must have been good this year

I was so excited when I unwrapped this gorgeous gift that I just had to share it with you! These 2 fellas have been on my own wishlist for a while - but funnily enough I had never mentioned them to anyone. My close friend D thought of me when she saw them. Here they are gracing our upcycled hutch...

 Our hutch was originally the floor in an old department store in Melbourne. The numbers on top actually marked where a certain product would be placed! We found it second hand and have put in an order for a TV cabinet from the original maker.

We were hoping it would arrive before Christmas, but it's looking like early January at this stage. Well, good things are worth waiting for!

A new Addition...

No - not that type of addition! Little Macs are still a few years off yet...

I'm talking about our brand old mantelpiece! We purchased this beauty for a steal and picked her up the other night - ready for next week's project.

She'll need a sand and we might need to use a router to cut out the bottoms so it fits neatly over the skirting board...

 

And the strange gray colour will have to go - we've got some Dulux Napkin White leftover from the skirting boards so this is becoming a very affordable project! Stay tuned for some DIY shots...

Mantle Hunting

... she draws up some mock rooms of course!! Obsessed? Me? Mais non! Too much time on my hands? Perhaps.

After scouring second hand stores and eBay for my perfect mantelpiece, I corralled them all into Publisher (I know, serious stuff right?) so I could compare dimensions and the 'vibe'.

Mantelpiece 1 - Hughes Online in Oakleigh $210
For - Solid Timber, a real vintage piece
Against - Oakleigh is the other end of the earth for us - maybe if it was cheaper

Mantelpiece 2 - eBay Glen Waverley, starting bid $5

For - Brand new, never used, low starting price, deep enough to put candles or something inside

Against - Glen Waverley is the other side of the earth for us (can you tell we like to keep it local?), probably wouldn't do candles as our dog might get a bit close, takes up more space due to extra depth.

Mantelpiece 3 - eBay Yarraville, starting bid $200

For - so close! We might even be able to walk it home! Brand new, gorgeous design.

Against - High starting price

 

 

 
Mantelpiece 4 - eBay Northcote, starting bid $0.99
For - Low starting price, there are 2 identical ones being sold individually, brand new, nice design. Northcote isn't really that far.
Against - ?

 

Do you like the wedding photos? Nice touch! Hubby rolled his eyes but I think he was secretly pleased xxx

The auctions all finish up early this week... fingers crossed!

Mantle Inspiration

After I got a feel for the sizes, colours and shapes of mantelpieces I knew we'd definitely go for a white/cream one in our living space, we definitely don't need to darken our south-facing room.

I headed to the net and discovered I wasn't the first one to think up this brilliant idea (again)! 2nd Floor Living got my creativity flowing as did The Grower's Daughter and I soon found myself dreaming of some forgotten old country manor full of treasure to breathe new life into.
The Little Apartment detailed how a pile of old fence palings turned into a beautiful faux fireplace and Jaime Scott over at Caught in Grace described her Faux Fireplace Transformation - this definitely my favourite so far!

I LOVE the chalkboard fireplace!

Little Loveables showed how well a simple raised shelf can work as a mantlepiece and I am prepared to fall back on this idea if needed...

Little Loveables

Your home only Better was another good resource and so was Apartment Therapy - here and here and somewhere along the way I got distracted by another brilliant idea.

I was prepared to resort to wall art if I couldn't quite get the whole faux fireplace idea past the husband...

thisnext

totsntales

Coming up - what does a type A do when faced with many decisions?

Mantle Dreaming

I think I've got me a Christmas break project. Last year it was an overhaul of our guest bedroom, and just wait till you see what I'm dragging us into this year...

We visited a good friend's new cafe in Geelong a few weeks ago (Ginger Biscuit Cafe, Highton if you feel like a drive it's definitely worth the trip!). Appealing to the older generations who live nearby, the cafe has lots of retro touches - Lynne has lined the walls with all sorts gorgeous vintage finds, from mirrors, teapots, to salt'n'pepper shakers and old cookbooks. She even gets donations to add to her quirky collections from her faithful clientele.
What stood out most to me though, was the faux-fireplace surrounded by couches near the entrance.

Lynne's husband is a builder and he knocked up an Art Deco period style mantelpiece frame and with a vintage screen in front, you wouldn't know it wasn't the real deal! It absolutely adds to the atmosphere and it popped a brilliant idea into my head straight away!

I'm always drooling over mantelpiece shots from Young House Love, Apartment Therapy, A Beach Cottage et al - especially this time of year as the festive decor comes out of the closet. Since we've rearranged things in our living area, I knew we have a perfect spot to put our faux fireplace - the blank area has been giving me the creeps for a while now.

As soon as we got home I raced to eBay to see what was up for grabs in our local area - I was pleasantly suprised with these couple of beauties starting at around $10:

 eBay Timber Mantle

eBay Blackwood Mantle

... so am I the proud owner of a new old mantelpiece yet? Stay tuned....