Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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From Christmas Mantel & Halloween Mantel To Spring Mantel

Having a fireplace in the kitchen is definitely something that we think is charming (it’s the heart of the home, and even though it’s not functional, just tucking a basket of Clara’s toys or books in there and having a spot to display stuff above the mantel is our idea of a good time). Well, maybe I should say it’s my idea of a good time, since I’m pretty sure John could commit to whatever we have up there at any given time for the next ten years. I, on the other hand, like to turn surfaces like the mantel into a rotating display or sorts. Not every day or even every few weeks, but it’s safe to say that around once a month I get a wild hair and decide to switch some things out. And our mantel has undergone quite the transformation since we moved in. Here are just a few “takes” on it, over the last fifteen months here:

About a week after we moved in (in mid December of 2010) we wanted to cozy up the room full of brick and paneling, so I slapped some holiday stuff up there and called it a day:

New Christmas Mantle Closer

New Christmas Mantle Detail

A while later (after priming and painting the brick and the mantel), I kept it simple with two fauxpiaries (faux topiaries) from Crate & Barrel and a round hanging mirror along with a mirror in the firebox, and a tray full of candles. This definitely wasn’t Clara friendly, I was just having mommy fun when she went off to bed:

Mirror After Side

After priming and painting the paneled walls (which look extra green here since we didn’t have good kitchen lighting installed yet), I added some Halloween stuff, complete with some homemade bleeding candles:

Halloween Decor8

Halloween Decor9

 

Then it was decorated for our second Christmas here, with a mirror that later moved into the living room, some stockings, a basket full of presents, and a few feather trees (eeks, the colors are all sorts of terrible in this pic, again since we didn’t have our new kitchen lighting installed yet):

Christmas Fireplace10

Well, now it looks like this (don’t mind that one remaining broken light that we’ve been meaning to replace for months now):

Mantel Now1

Oh yes, and we still haven’t trimmed out the area where the cork meets the tile surround yet (but you know we’ll share pics when we do)!

Here’s a little side action:

Mantel Now2

You might notice one of my favorite birthday presents ever, this little painting of Burger from my insanely thoughtful friend Lesli (who is one of the most talented painters I know). Yup, I cried when I opened it. It just captures him perfectly. I love that it’s small and chunky (the canvas is extra thick and just 9 inches wide/tall). And for everyone sweetly wondering how he’s doing since this incident, he’s back to his usual happy self, thank goodness. We are so grateful.

Mantel Now4

Of course these blooms won’t stay up there nearly as long as my beloved Burger portrait probably will (darn you tulips, why must you die?) but for now I’m loving them in this bright green vase. It was one of those free vases that came with a birthday bouquet that a friend sent me last year (it was sitting in my little decorating cabinet waiting to get some action).

Mantel Now5

Oh and I got those tulips last Wednesday since we were hosting some Easter guests and I wanted to brighten up the house. They’re still looking happy thanks to reclipping their stems and refreshing the water every few days (and dropping an old penny in the water to help keep them from getting too floppy).Yay tulips! But I think I might only get one more week out of them. Sniffle. But I guess that opens me up to a whole new mantel makeover. Haha. And so it continues…

Do you have a mantel or another surface (the top of a console, dresser, your coffee table or dining table?) that you tweak every once in a while? Can you believe we lived with that dark paneling and weird lighting that made everything look neon as long as we did? I can’t either.

Comments

  2. Carli says

    Wow, its just amazing how much lighter and brighter the kitchen is after all the changes you’ve made! The fireplace and mantle look great painted white and I love the springy theme!

    Reply

  3. Robin @ Our Semi Organic Life says

    I wish I could be the person who changes their mantle up so often. We have a gorgeous mantle that we propped up some frames the first month we moved in and with some candles called it done. It’s never changed for the seasons or anything. Maybe one of these days I’ll make it extra spring-y!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      You can totally do it! In our first house I never changed things – or if I did it was just for holidays and it went back to exactly the same old look. But for some reason in our second house I have been having more fun moving lots of things around and trying to resist the urge to call anything completely done. It’s just more fun to tweak things and switch out pillows and poufs and lamps and art and accessories from time to time, ya know?

      xo,
      s

  4. Karen F says

    Sherry, I just wanted to say you’ve got quite the eye for styling! My fireplace/mantel is painted brick (even the mantel is brick, have you ever heard of that?) and the brick on the mantel is uneven, so I can’t place much up there or it might tip! I’m hoping to someday overlay the mantel with wood and some molding to make it prettier and more stable, so I can place decorative items up there.

    Thanks for the tip about the penny in the tulips! I bought several bunches this weekend, too…off to try it now!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, we hear that from blog readers sometimes (no one who has met him in person has said it- so maybe it’s a photograph thing?). I sort of see it but not the ears at all!

      xo,
      s

    • YoungHouseLove says

      That used to be in Clara’s room for a few months. It’s from Joss And Main on clearance! I was so torn about what color to pick (they have green, blue, yellow, brown, etc) but white seems to work in every room- so it moves around! Haha.

      xo,
      s

  11. Tracy Jones says

    That Burger painting is amaze-balls as you might say. I looked at Lesli’s paintings, and that might be her best yet. What are the chances you could talk her into a YHL reader discount on pet portraits? Hint hint…

    Reply

  13. Connie says

    Love the mantel (and the room). That’s a really sweet painting of Burger! It would look super cute on a little black easel.

    Reply

  16. Blythe says

    Wow, it’s amazing how UGLY that kitchen used to be, isn’t it? Your beautiful updates just have me itching to tackle our kitchen. Still savin’ our pennies…….

    Reply

  17. Michele Daggar says

    Love the Burger picture! So scary what happened to him last week. We had to put our beloved border collie, Rex, to sleep last month. He somehow developed kidney failure out of nowhere. He just stopped eating. He was only 7. We now have a new puppy, Indy, who is so sweet and so crazy. They are such members of the family aren’t they? Sorry for the long story, but when I read about Burger my heart gave a little flip….

    Totally off subject, I got my most recent issue of Do It Yourself magazine, and your column wasn’t in it. Did you guys stop writing for them? I know it’s not my business, but that magazine was how I first found YHL. I’m just a nosy gal I guess.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I’m so sorry for your loss Michele! What a shock. Lots of love to you guys and little Indy! Oh and as for DIY, thanks to book craziness we asked for a “rain check” scenario, so we’ll hop back on board with our column as soon as things settle down a bit (still doing lots of layout stuff, proofing, putting together a resource section for the back with all of our sources for every pics, etc). Can’t wait until this book baby is birthed! Haha.

      xo
      s

  20. susanne says

    The fireplace isn’t functional?..I know you removed the stove. Do you just need some work done before you can use it? Can’t wait til you make it two sided!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, we’d love to convert it to a double sided gas fireplace someday- but it’s sealed off so we would just have to unseal it so it vents again.

      xo,
      s

  23. Brandy E says

    Oh I just love how you can change it up like that! I haven’t changed mine in about 7 months, but I know I need too! Its not over the fireplace anymore (Was way to small) but I painted it white and hung it in my dinning room. (Inspired by the shelves in your old house dining room!) Maybe I should do it soon! Here’s a post with a picture in it.

    http://wp.me/P1MmG7-3B

    Reply

  24. Sue says

    Love the tulips! They’re my favorite flower, but they’re a florist’s nightmare (I work for a florist). They can be closed up tight when you leave to deliver them, but be wide open by the time they get to their destination. Today we got another tulip order, and my boss hollered, “Why is everyone ordering these infernal tulips? Has the whole world gone mad???”

    Reply

  25. Sarah W says

    Hi!

    You guys make decorating look so easy! I love it! Our house looks like we moved in 4 weeks ago, not 4 years!

    I primed our fireplace with oil-based primer *over a year ago* and never got around to painting (even though I have the paint and supplies stored just a few feet away), and it just so happens to be on of our dogs favorite places to lay in the summer since the brick is nice and cool, so now its looking a little grubby. After I clean it to the best of my ability, should I prime it again? Can I do that? Or do you think some Georgia red-clay stains would be okay to paint over???

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, I’d wipe it down and prime it one more time, just since primer can grab best when it hasn’t sat around for that long. Then try not to wait more than a week before painting it so the primer is still “open” for the best hold!

      xo,
      s

  26. Courtney says

    I’ve always heard adding vodka to the water would keep tulips from being all droopy, but who wants to waste vodka? I’ll definitely be trying the penny trick next time.

    Reply

  29. Lauryn says

    SO happy Burger is still acting like his old self! My childhood dog, Nikki, had seizures and they were some of the most terrifying moments I remember. Fortunately, they are able to manage it with medicine, but still it was awful. Family animals are so special and important, Im glad he is doing fine!

    Reply

  30. Jackie says

    I kind of think that when you live with something everyday you don’t realize how bad it really is! I love what you have done with your kitchen!

    We lived with mustard yellow paint and a florescent light for over a year with our house. Yuck!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thanks! The round white one is from TJ Maxx a while back (it was faux gold and sponge painted so I painted it white) and the cool shaped one was from Joss and Main a few months back. Maybe try overstock or wayfair to hunt it down?

      xo,
      s

  32. Ashley says

    Thank you for this post! I’ve been super frustrated with decorating my mantel and your simple, yet colorful ideas are replicable and eye-catching.

    Suggestions for decorating a mantel with a flat screen TV hanging above it? There’s about five or so inches from the bottom of the TV to the mantel – just enough room to look bare without something, but difficult to coordinate? Ideas, oh wise one??? :)

    Thanks a bunch!

    Ashley

    Jorgensen Better Together

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hmm, maybe try a pretty shallow box or tray in the middle and then something like a candle on one side and a leaning frame or grouping of two small vases on the other side? I always aim for balance without things looking too super symmetrical.

      xo,
      s

  34. stef says

    I weirdly almost never change surfaces! I’m now realizing how odd that is. I think our entry table has had the exact same lamp, bowl, and plant for the past 5 years… doh

    Hooray for tulips! Do you guys have any planted in the yard?

    Reply

  36. Erin says

    I am so jealous of your mantel! We have a fireplace in our kitchen too but no mantel on it. I was planning on building one and putting it up belted Christmas do we could hang our stockings up, but I was also pregnant and just didn’t get around to it. I finally finished painting my daughter’s room about 2 weeks ago, a week before our son was born. We have lots of panneling that needs painting, but now with 2 under the age of 3 I know it’ll be an extended process! A little at a time is all we can hope for now!

    Reply

  38. Kate Perry says

    Your kitchen is looking so lovely now…..major kitchen envy!!!
    I too was going to mention the tulip and pin trick, although I didn’t learn it from Martha, but from my husband’s 93 year old grandmother.
    Keep on with all your fab ideas, you guys are so inspiring.
    Kate x

    Reply

  39. Tara says

    I have seen your post about painting a brick fireplace, but maybe I missed where you showed what to do for the inside brick. It looks so clean painted black but how did you go about doing that? Would painting inside be bad later if it became a working fireplace? I am in the same position with mine where it doesn’t work now but when we can afford to fix it, we will. I have a lot of soot build up and just didn’t know if there are extra cleaners or things to do to the inside. Thanks so much for all the great tips!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      If it’s not a working fireplace for good, it’s great to paint it (just scrub it clean, use primer to block bleed and the paint it). And if you’ll someday convert to electric or gas, paint is still ok in the firebox. But if you want to convert it to a wood-burning fireplace again it’s not recommended that you paint it unless you use special high heat paint. Maybe ask around at a hardware store or specialty paint store?

      xo,
      s

    • GreenInOC says

      Tara I am a total DIY idiot but I was successful at painting the inside of my firebox (that sounds weird!).

      I got the high heat paint from the hardware store. It used to be wood burning but I converted it to gas and it still looks great!

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think it’s really cute with the stacked books and the rounded basket – any sort of tray or storage thing might be functional and then a stack of books and maybe something decorative for the top shelf like a glossy photo book open to your favorite page? I think you’re doing an awesome job with it!

      xo,
      s

  41. Meg@ Green Motherhood says

    I so miss our mantle we had in our last house. And we won’t be getting one when we finally build our new home. I’m just going to have to live vicariously through your mantle updates I guess!

    Reply

  43. Kim says

    Any tips on painting a fireplace that is ceramic tile? It is currently a beige monstrosity with brass fixtures. GROSS. I am going to use high heat black paint for the brass parts. I remember from your first house you painted the tiles in front of the fireplace – did they hold up well? Grasping at straws for a low budget fix… and I love the mantle change ups. My husband just shakes his head at me now when I pull everything down and change things around. I tell him it’s all Sherry’s fault….hahahaha…

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I would go to a paint specialty store like Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams and ask the experts there what they recommend. We used primer, paint, and water based poly over it to seal it and they were walked on for 4.5 years and still looked great- but they might have newer formulas meant for painting tile these days!

      xo,
      s

  44. Bob @ Home Remodeling says

    It might be a personal style thing but I really like the circle mirror rather than the “snowflake” hanging over the fireplace as well. It just has a crisper cleaner design feel than the geometric shape does. My 2 cents. Love the wall color as well. Good choice.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yeah, we like the snowflake one better in the living room, so it lives there now. I think on paneling it might have looked busier or something- but on a smooth light gray wall in the living room it’s perfect!

      xo,
      s

  45. Jessie says

    looking fabulous as always!

    I do have a quick questions since you mentioned a little something about it… (which you will probably get to when you update us on how you guys finish the floor there)

    My question: is the tile surround lower than the new wood floor?

    I have this mantel looking thing the previous owners built in the foyer of our house and since looking at all your updates think I will try to find a mantel for it – it is currently just drywall made to look like a mantel painted the same color as the wall. unfortunately all the things i put there get stuck on the paint :-(

    So my thinking is that maybe having a actual (wood) mantel surface can help that.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, it’s about a quarter of an inch lower, but once we trim it out with “reducers” (they’re sort of like wood transitions that slope softly in one direction to bridge gaps like that) we think it’ll look nice and finished. And eventually we’d love to switch out that painted white tile surround for something new, so once we lay that it’ll be back up to the right height!

      xo,
      s

    • GreenInOC says

      Sherry, I’m curious if you considered putting the cork right up to the fireplace? If so, what were your reasons for going against it? Just curious – I think it looks great the way it is.

      Because of cork’s flashpoint it’s a code friendly material (at least here in California).

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We did hear that we could run it right up to the base of the firebox but we worried that it would look unbalanced. I know it’s weird, but we’re so used to fireplaces having something on the floor to ground them, so that defined little rectangle somehow makes it feel proportionate. Plus, someday we’d love to retile it with something swanky! Haha.

      xo,
      s

  48. Emily Morrison @ What Emily Does says

    Okay, I MUST share this little tulip trick Layla from TheLetteredCottage shared with me last weekend—If you cut a vertical slit at the top of the stem, just a couple cm long, it will make the tulips stand straight up rather than limp over like they do naturally.
    It took about a day for them to stand up but I kid you not-it works!

    Reply

  49. bachsbythebeach says

    LOVE LOVE your mantle! I love the idea of switching it up every so often too. The tulips really make it pop. I wish i had a mantle to decorate…i would go nuts! I actual decorate the top of the cabinets in the kitchen. We have a vaulted ceiling and 42 inch cabinets. I switch it up from time to time. That is my mantle :-)

    Reply

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