What is on your mantel? Pictures?

[Georgie]

I need help with my fireplace mantel. Currently it has a painting of vintage wine advertisement.

Would love some ideas what to put on it and if you have any pictures to share would love that too.

[mac78]

I have shells, a boston terrier statue from my dad, and an old clock.

[CohenCottage]

I wish I had a mantle...

[ChapterTwo]

Georgie, I can suggest you look at this site for ideas. http://www.fireplacemall.com/Article_Library/Fireplace_Mantel_Decorating__T/fireplace_mantel_decorating__t.html

Also, Google DECORATING YOUR MANTEL for more ideas.

Cohen Cottage - It's easy enough to HAVE a mantel, nowadays even if you don't have a real fireplace. There are lots of really nice faux fireplaces to buy. Some even have inserts that throw heat! :-)

You have brought up a dilemma I have. My house had two stained glass windows, equidistant from the center of the long wall in the living room. My aunt removed one (Gasp!) and sold it, and replaced it with an air conditioner (Ugh!) The room was then paneled, and they went right over the other stained glass window, covering it up. I never even knew it was there until I walked around the house when I started thinking of buying it.

What I would love to do is get another stained glass window (if I were rich, I'd commission a duplicate of the remaining one) and have it placed in the spot where the air conditioner is, and move that to the dining room. But I know, between the stained glass and the work to install it, it's going to be expensive.

In the meantime, I have my mother's faux fireplace in the center, and I have a gorgeous mirror (also was my mother's) that I want to put over the fireplace...but the stupid air conditioner is such an eyesore!

Any thoughts would be appreciated. My room is still a blank canvas! I've attached pics of the inside and outside.

[annielinz]

Georgie, Welcome.

Heres my mantel at various times,years and seasons I change it around a lot with the seasons. These are in no particular order. The last one is currently what I have up there.

[ChapterTwo]

A question, Mary Ann. Do you use the Command strips to attach your plates to the wall, because I don't see any nail holes in the photos where they are gone. Inquiring minds want to know...:o

[Breezy]

Mary Ann - love the pics you posted of your mantel - they all look so pretty!

[Heather]

Here's my mantel right now with the mirror I bought at Ikea last weekend!

[Gigi]

Chapter Two- Omgoodness that is a beautiful piece of stained glass--- I love mirrors above a fireplace.... Wouldn't that be nice if you could duplicate the piece for a fraction of the cost :)

Annielinz- Your mantel settings are gorgeous! You are very talented and have such a good eye for decorating... love them all!

Heather- LOVE LOVE LOVE the mirror! I want one------ :p

[Heather]

Thanks Gigi, here they are and in your $:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00133528

[shabbychic52]

I like a lot of stuff on my mantel. Mine is an old antique fireplace front

[Gigi]

Heather- Wow! So Ikea--- and for that price- I would have thought it was at least 3 times that price.... Ikea really has some wonderful items!

[yarborough house]

The mantels look great girls. Ours is all Easter-fied right now.
I am off to take the kids to grandmas today and they are spending the night- wooo hooo. The older son and I are spending the day shopping - all my faves- Homegoods, marshalls, joanns, home depot, michaels, etc...gonna be a great day.

[annielinz]

Chapter Two, I use those wire plate thingy's. Believe me there are nail holes, I just fill and dab on some wall paint to cover.

Heather that mirror is beautiful!

I think decorating a mantle is very intimidating because it seems to be a focal point in a room, so I really appreciate your kind comments.

[Heather]

I know what you mean, Mary Ann. I kinda went with the 3 + 1 rule and then I had to put a mirror up to hopefully bounce around some natural light in there.

[ChapterTwo]

Chapter Two, I use those wire plate thingy's. Believe me there are nail holes, I just fill and dab on some wall paint to cover.



You did a great job in covering them - all of the arrangements are lovely!

[Breezy]

Hi Georgie & welcome to the forums. I'm posting a pic of the mantel in our home which is a craftsman bungalow - all about nature & simplicity.:)

[memmey]

Two,
Did you say that your fireplace is faux? Could you position in some where else in the room? I don't think a cover would be appropriate, it will restrict the air intake. Could you reverse the room so to speak? Could you make it a corner fireplace? The opening in the back of the mantle could have a trangular piece of wood ontop to cover the void of the corner. Add a little piece of moulding on the edge .......feel free to ingnore this idea..I was on a roll there...LOL:p

[ChapterTwo]

Memmey...Yes, the fireplace is faux. When my mother was growing up, she always wanted a fireplace. When she and my Dad saved to buy a house, the one that they picked had this faux fireplace, and the seller said she could have it with the sale of the house. Even though it wasn't "the real thing", she was tickled pink. So it's sentimental to me...

Anyway, the wall opposing the one where it is has the staircase. The two other short walls are out because one has the three "front of the house" windows, and the other has a wide opening leading to the dining room. And if I put it in the corner (by the dining rm.)...well, that's where the Xmas tree goes. ;)

Soooo, you see I'm kind of stuck. My kids say I shouldn't have it in the room but (I'm going to whine now...) I waaaaaant it there. :o

I really appreciate your helping, Mem.

[shabbychick]

Chapter Two,

What a shame to have covered up that beautiful window and replaced the other with an air conditioner. If you can't afford new stained glass, could you put in a plain glass window and then use some of that stained glass film to cover it? Or maybe just use some of those peel and stick outline forms that have the "lead" but no color just to give it some shape. Do you plan on taking down all the paneling to expose both windows?

[ChapterTwo]

Chapter Two,

If you can't afford new stained glass, could you put in a plain glass window and then use some of that stained glass film to cover it? Do you plan on taking down all the paneling to expose both windows?

Yes, that's a thought, shabbychick. Maybe I could have it fixed so that when (positive thoughts here) I can afford to get another stained glass window, the clear glass one can be switched out easily. And I can have the paneling cut away, and molding put around the stained glass window. Good idea. Tnx!

As for the paneling, I painted it all white - I actually like that look...more "cottagey" than plain ol' walls, painted. And since I'm doing the whole house myself, tearing down paneling (and who knows what lurks underneath?) was more I would have wanted to tackle. I still have a ton of work to do, and now the outdoors will be calling me! (The yard's a mess too...)
:o

[teresanc]

Here is my mantel at present - a collection of teapots, cups and saucers, my pink transferware plates and two lamps on loan from my sister. There actually are electrical outlets on top of my mantel! The framed print is called "Art Lesson" and I forget the artist's name. Sorry the exposure on this is not as good as usual. Not sure what happened.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL93/969683/7821423/385154183.jpg

[shabbychick]

Teresa, your mantel is lovely with the cups and plates on it. I wish my mantel had electrical outlets on it. That makes decorating for holidays so much easier. I need to redo my mantel. I threw some stuff up after Xmas just so it would not be bare, but I don't like it much and need to redo it. I was just on vacation on the Oregon coast and bought a few new things, so I'll find places for them and then post a picture.

[vintage girl]

I don't have a fireplace mantel, but do have a woodburning stove. Since I don't have a mantel, I use my wall as my mantel:D

[allen820]

Vintage Girl -- Great look! Got that Southwest thing going on. I love it!

Allen

[shabbychick]

I've been doing some research on replacing my current mantel with another, and it turns out not to be so easy to get what I want as I thought it would be. My mantel is not very deep, only about four inches, and it's not easy to decorate because everything just has to be lined up in a row, and you can't put anything very big on it. But it turns out that I can't buy a prefab mantel that is the length I need on both to top and bottom to match the current legs (which are really just pieces of molding glued to the wall, I think) and as deep as I want. I thought it was as simple as pulling one off the wall and screwing on another, and even had someone lined up to do the work for me, but the mantel company says they can't make one to my specifications. Not only that, but the one they said they could make (which is about half a foot longer on top than the wall it will sit on!) was almost $500!! And that was just for unpainted MDF!! So now one of my friend's husbands, who does custom woodwork, is looking at the situation to see if the problem can be solved, and if it can be solved for less than $500. If this were going to be my forever home, I'd splurge on a whole new fireplace and mantel, but as soon as the market returns and I can get enough out of this place to put down on a construction loan to have a little house built, I want to save the money to put into nice upgrades for that place instead. It's very frustrating when something seems like it ought to be so simple but just isn't. I do love mantels on fireplaces. It's about my favorite thing to decorate.

[Bungalove]

ChapterTwo, that remaining stained glass window is indeed gorgeous (and,yes, the AC unit is horrendous!). One idea to get a duplicate window made at a lower cost is to contact schools in your area. Is there perhaps a technical college with either art students or construction students that could tackle such a project? How about a high school art class? Or have you considered learning to make stained glass yourself? Might be fun. :)

Best of luck!

[vintage girl]

Shabby,

Have you looked into the prefab mantels at Lowes? They are very very affordable and look fantastic. I helped a friend replace her mantel with one and it turned out fantastic. We actually did the entire fireplace surround. Took everything off and redid the entire thing. Not hard to do at all and very inexpensive. Here is a link to what we used:

http://www.lowes.com/SearchCatalogDisplay?storeId=10151&langId=-1&catalogId=10051&N=0&newSearch=true&Ntt=mantel+lits

What is not shown on the Lowes website is the pre-fab mantels, but they do have them in the stores. You can also build your own out of MDF and moulding. :)

There are also quite a few fireplace mantles/surrounds right now on Craigslist for your area. Good prices and gorgeous:

http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/mat/1726106851.html

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/for/1723385807.html

http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/for/1721338738.html

Might be worth checking into. Those are just a few that were on there:)

[shabbychick]

Thanks, Vintage Girl. One of my friends has a husband who does woodworking as a hobby, and he's looking into a way to get the right size mantel built for my setup without spending a fortune. He is not sure that an 8" deep mantel will work on my wall without more support than my setup has. It's on a very short wall and instead of legs they just put molding on the wall, so there's no real support for a deep mantel. I've told him I'm happy with MDF, so we'll see what kind of design he can come up with. If I have to put in a whole new surround with actual legs to support the mantel, I'll have to pry off and cut down the baseboard molding, too, because it'll be in the way.

Thanks for the link to the craigslist ads. The mantels were bigger than I have room for, but they were pretty. I'll keep my eyes open.

I may have to break down and splurge for a whole new surround and the labor to put it in, anyway. I had been planning to sell this place (I've been here 6 years now) and have a little cottage built somewhere, but according to my latest tax assessment which arrived this week, this place has lost sixteen thousand dollars in value since I bought it, so I'm kind of stuck here until the recession ends and house prices go up again. I'm thinking that could be years down the road. I suppose that for now, I might as well put the money into making this place as nice as it can be, including new flooring, and keeping it up. I guess I'd better buy some tools and learn how to use them. :(

[Gigi]

Thanks Heather ~ IKEA- YES! I just visited an Ikea store (for the 1st time) --- last month- I needed "days" in there to see everything- I didn't see the mirror- so I will be looking the for them the next visit.

[Gigi]

Vintage girl- LOVE the picture of your wood burning stove setting- looks like it should be displayed in a magazine.

[mac78]

Ladies, I bought something I never bought before, a picture that actually cost a few bucks......I saw this in a shop I was in last week and fell in love with it. They were having a Spring Open House and everything was 15% off, and I stole $$$ from my emergency fund and bought it Saturday morning. So I hung it up today and moved things around on my mantel......next, to paint those ugly walls, scape the ceiling off and paint it and make patio curtains out of sheets.

[ChapterTwo]

That's lovely, Marie. And all of your beach-themed items work perfectly with it. Ahhhh, if you could only jump into the picture, you'd be by the beach, at last! ;)

[shabbychick]

Oh, I love your beach picture! What a good selection. I like your corner fireplace, too. Those are great for decorating!

[annielinz]

Marie what a perfect painting for you! When something "speaks" to you, you just have to splurge.

[vintage girl]

What a beautiful painting:)