Even though the home is a rental we were allowed to paint the walls. I went with Jennifer’s suggestion of two walls a darker teal color and two a lighter shade of the same. Subtle but awesome. After the painting was completed my first order of business was that I wanted a fireplace, but the home didn’t have one. Minor detail. I’ve always had an attachment to fireplaces, most likely stemming from my childhood growing up in Arizona. Being a very warm state fireplaces were not common but at Christmastime my parents put up a cardboard fireplace. How I loved it! I searched and searched online but most were the type that actually simulated a fire by various means and were mega expensive. I finally found one for less than $100 that was just a facade with a mirror in the log area. It was thin and not quite tall enough but the best I could do so I was happy enough.
The mantle was also a bit too skinny for my needs and for the important function of hanging stockings at Christmas time. Roy said he could also fix that for me. He bought some wood and had my dad help cut and bevel it and then painted it a nice off white color and attached it on the top of the fireplace. He then did a little work on the back of it so we could set our TV on top without having the wires show.
He knew it was a little bit shorter than I wanted and he told me he could make a simple hearth for it so it would not only sit up higher but look more like a real fireplace. He used some bricks we already had at the house to do that. It was all fairly quick and easy and it looks great!
NOTE: This fake fireplace front is no longer available on Amazon where I initially purchased mine. If you’re suinterested in finding one you can do a Google search for “Mirrored Mantel Facade”.
WHIMSICAL LIVING ROOM POST INDEX
