Changing the Fireplace Area… Again

As I mentioned in my Sunday post, I would be sharing a bit about two of the decorating projects I am working on this summer.

For today’s post the project is once again changing the way the fireplace and mantel in my living room look. If you are a long time reader, you know this area has undergone quite a few changes over the 9 years we have lived in the house.

Later this week, I will share another room, one that is going to get a stylish addition.

For now, back to the living room fireplace and mantel. Of all the spaces in my home, this is the space that has undergone the most changes. I realize that most people would not change this space nearly as much as I have.

There are two reasons why I keep changing it. The first boils down to the fact that I always have ideas and don’t hesitate to try them out. I am a DIY’er who enjoys seeing ideas come to life.

I picked up this trait when I worked in retail display where I had to change the displays all around the department store I worked in on a weekly basis.

Sometimes the changes were easy to do, such as swapping out merchandise or hanging new signage. Most of the time though, it involved lots of resourcefulness, paint, fabric, a staple gun and creativity.

The second reason the fireplace area has undergone changes is that we needed to dismantle the stone fireplace surround we built. It was the first big project we did when we first moved into the house.

We found out that we didn’t use the correct backer board under the stones, hence a fire hazard. We also placed the mantel too low. Our town’s code requires it to be 10″ above the fireplace opening. We didn’t want any problems so we tore it out. Doing this left me back to square one… which was a plain brick wall.

Many readers thought I would be upset about having to remove the stone fireplace surround, but it didn’t bother me at all. In fact the living room looks much bigger and brighter without it.

Fireplace & Mantel Timeline

Here are a few photos to show you the changes over time.

This is how the fireplace wall looked when we first moved into the house. We removed the shelving and lived with the empty wall for a few weeks.

I got an idea on how to create a mantel for the plain fireplace when we took apart the hutch that was in the dining room of our previous home. Since we had no place to put it in the lake house and no one wanted it, we took it apart to easily dispose of it.

In doing so, we realized the top crown molding section came off with screws. When I held it up, it looked like a mantel. And that is what it became.

The cabinet section of the hutch got repurposed into a foyer sideboard.

Fireplace Change #1

This photo shows how we built out the surround and covered the brick with vertical panels. You can see the hutch crown molding hanging on the base of the surround.

This is how the vertical wall planking looked that covered the brick and the completed stone fireplace and mantel. I had painted the bottom hearth section of the bricks white.

It stayed like this for more than 6 years.

Three years ago we found out that it could be a fire hazard, we removed it. Doing so didn’t cause any damage to the brick wall underneath besides a few screw holes that we filled in.

The only thing I miss about the stone fireplace wall was that I lost the throw blanket holder I made. I really liked how this looked and used it every day.

Fireplace Change #2

Once the stone fireplace surround, throw blanket rack and vertical planking were removed from the wall, I painted the brick white.

After painting it, I didn’t have any ideas for the wall so I just covered the fireplace and firewood storage openings with folding screens. The paneled green screen I had and the smaller folding screen covering the fireplace I made by repurposing a sewing pattern cutting board.

I then found a piece of reclaimed wood in the garage that I didn’t know we still had. It just happened to be the right size to create a rustic mantel and I went with it.

To hide the fireplace opening when not in use, I made a screen out of the side panels of an old wood filing cabinet my neighbor was throwing away.

I decided to stain it to match the mantel.

I was happy with this for awhile. I even created a cover for the firewood storage opening on the left of the wall using a piece of faux brick paneling and texture paint so it would look as seamless as possible.

After having the rustic mantel and cover up for awhile, I found I didn’t like the stained wood look anymore and removed it all from the wall.

In the Process of Change #3

Now back to the present day and what I am currently doing to the fireplace and wall.

I saved the white hutch mantel and decided to put it back on the wall. Once that was in place again at the proper height this time, I painted the stained wood screen. I first coated it with KILZ stain blocking primer. Once 2 coats of that were dry I used Sherwin Williams Pure White in semi-gloss to paint it.

Since the two-panel screen was slightly smaller than the width of the opening, I attached a 1″ x 2″ board to each side to make the screen wider to completely cover the opening.

It is not attached to the wall, but fits snuggly under the mantel.

Now for the fun part. I am repurposing one of the art canvases that previously hung in the colorful guest room. Like the hutch mantel, I am glad I saved the canvases I used as I am going to do something with the blue one, something I have never done before.

I will never be a fine artist, nor do I have the desire to become one. I do however feel a piece of colorful art above the mantel is needed and haven’t found anything that will fit or that I like. When this happens I know I will have to DIY what I am envisioning.

And this is what I am envisioning to paint on the canvas. This piece from Jennifer Paganelli is my inspiration. I like the layered brush strokes she uses and the cheery pinks and greens.

I have the paints and supplies and am going to go for it. I figure if I don’t like what I paint, I can roll over it with blue paint and start again until I like what I see.

As soon as I get it done and hung on the wall I will share it with you. For now you will just need to try to envision what I see… so stayed tuned.