TRANSFORMATION TUESDAY.....FIREPLACE RE-DESIGN

I have a passion, love, addiction, disorder for taking things and transforming them.   Whether it is with paint or dismantling its parts or re-purposing it in a non-expected way.

I've decided to do a weekly feature post and call it TRANSFORMATION TUESDAY.  I wish I could do a linky party....but I haven't traveled to that side of blogland yet.   Maybe I can do some research and turn it into a weekly link up party.

Here is my 1st Transformation Tuesday project:


I found my fireplace on Craigslist last year when we first moved to the new house.    It was large which I liked but I wasn't thrilled that it was oak.

I finally decided during the other re-designs that I would tackle this project as well....so you all know how it looked before.

Here it is in it's original purchase condition

Some sanding was needed as you can see on the bottom left I tried just going right over......not happening!  I had to lightly sand the entire fireplace first.

Here is what it looked like the middle of my 50% trial..  I used Valspar Very Black.

Here it is now....

I'm very happy with the finish.....you can still see the woodgrain through the paint job. I kept the accessories very simple but still within our exotic island theme in the living room.  I think 90% of the accessories in my house are from Home Goods.   They just have the best selection of accessories for every color, theme, style!

Hope you will come back next week for the #2 TRANSFORMATION TUESDAY feature!

Linking to:

 

MANTLE MADNESS..

Let's start this one off with saying that the word can be spelled Mantle or Mantel.  It normally just comes out mantle when I type so thats how you will see it most. lol

Okay, so after Christmas the mantle must be cleared and then redesigned....except this year Im having a really hard time.   Last year I didnt have a huge TV on top of it.  

Even taking pictures of it is difficult because of that big black box.  Ive tried hiding it with decorative plant & stand and that didnt work so I just decorate around it!

NOTHING LIKE A CLEAN SLATE.....MANTEL RE-DO

Well I haven't been thrilled with the way the mantel came out and have been tweaking it every minute since I did it.   So that basically tells me that it's not working and I need to start over.

Here is the bare mantel...except for the flat screen play "Handy Manny" (my daughter works with my decorating disability. lol

Here is everything that was on the mantel (top and bottom) on the dining room table.

Here are the faux presents that were under the tree next to the mantel

Stay tuned tonight.....I should be done by then!

HOLIDAY DECOR...THE REAL TREE

So for 6 years now my husband has been taunting me about my "Macy's trees".   His version of a Christmas is to pull everything out of boxes and throw it on the tree!   I know this because I let him and the kids decorate the tree one year....yes ONE YEAR!   It was killing me not to rip everything off, but I promised not to touch it.

So since the kids and the husband are getting the artificial tree downstairs......that leaves me with the fabulous 9ft Douglas Fir that hubby picked up last night.   I wished for a slim tall tree to fit in the corner by the fireplace...kinda like an Italian Cypress tree.   Well I think its obvious that I didnt go with my husband nor did he hear me voice my wishes for the tree this year.

This is the monster he walked in with at 9p.m.

This is the beast it became after we cut the netting off, still enormous.

I cant see my santas of anything on that wall and its imposing on the fireplace too. OMG

Out came the clippers and I started at the bottom....leaving room for my decorative present boxes (ha this year I get to do whatever I want up here)

As you can see not much of a difference...but I did get some great clippings for the mantel and the kitchen hutch. lol

Ive gotten alot of inspiration from Ballard Designs

 This year Im going to try a more muted color scheme. This is my inspiration tree from Ballard Designs. White, Cream, Silver, Gold and natural textures like birds, pine cones, rice and nuts are my ingredients for the living room holiday design.

Lights are on...type to spruce them both up.

Here it starts off with lights and a special tree skirt.

This is my Nonna (grandmother) Anna's bedspread...its light and beautiful and I love having it under my tree.

It has beautiful detail work and in the center the phrase " Amor Mio"...I love it.