This is the time of year when the Christmas decor comes down and everyone has the winter blahs. After having tons of little things drive me nuts (and staring at the walls being stuck indoors doesn't help) I finally snapped and did a little weekend re-arrange. Here's the post-Christmas, I've-given-up furniture arrangement, chosen mostly to accommodate the mini trampoline Santa brought:
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| Before: Living Room |
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| Before: Living Room |
We regularly rearrange furniture and artwork every few months. Early in our marriage, I used to hate this but now I am an active participant! I researched living room arrangements on Pinterest and decided to bisect our living room into two areas: a hearth area and a more open reading/play area in the walk zone to the kitchen.
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| After: Hearth Seating Area |
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| After: Reading/Play Zone in Walkway |
This mantle has bothered us for a long time. We have a nice tapestry by a Canadian artist that my husband's mom knew, that she gave to us when she moved. The only place it fits is here, but in combo with the black fireplace cover and the 70s-brown-painted wood mantle, it just all looks dark, dark, dark. I tried the lamps and mirror to add light and height but it just wasn't working.
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| Before: Fireplace |
We discussed painting the brick, which, despite people touting it on blogs all the time, would be big money and time. With a vaulted fireplace like this, it would mean renting scaffolding. We also looked into buying a new fireplace cover, but that'll run you around $500-$900. There is a really nice store in town that will come measure and help you pick glass type, metal finish, etc. www.fireplacecenterkc.com
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| An example of what about $500 can get you new at the Fireplace and BBQ Center off Metcalf. |
Ian convinced me to try spray painting ours, first. This sounded great, so I found a nice mid-tone, not too silver, not too gold, matte metallic spray paint at Michael's called Champagne. I did a little test area. Ian came home and said how great it looked. Then he said "it's high-temp paint, right?"
Oops.
Then, I made another trip to Home Depot. I got a nice can of Rustoleum that will withstand grill temperatures. The selection of high temperature spray paint was a little thin. Black, White, Silver, and high-gloss silver. I went with the regular silver thinking high-gloss would show more imperfections. But first, I had to remove the regular spray paint in the section I tested. You know, to prevent explosions/fire. I used acetone and guess what? I wasn't the first person to spray paint this bad boy! It turns out, the original finish was shiny 80s brass. Awesome. This made me feel much better because I really can't screw it up any more, right?
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| Painting in Progress: I also painted the mantle using a small high-pile roller and leftover trim paint. I am so glad all the trim in the house matches. It makes touch ups and matching very easy! |
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| The finish is ok--it looks kind of like a brushed nickel. |
And here is the finished effect. I moved the painting from the hallway console table to the mantle. It turns out the horizontal works better at balancing the large vertical tapestry, as does the strong horizontal mantle that now pops white against the red brick. I don't love the silver fireplace (antique brass is more my speed for this house), but it really beats the black and brightens up the space. I'm not sure about all my tchockies. I move stuff like that around all the time. I tried a grouping by color but I don't know if I like the shape/balance. Maybe totally clean would be better? Definitely need flowers.
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| Finally, I moved the lamps and mirror from the mantle to the hallway console table. The light bulbs don't match, which is driving Ian absolutely insane. Still haven't picked up the toys in this picture. |
All in all, this was a fun and easy way to refresh the living room for under $20 and a few hours of work. Honestly, it would have been more like $15 if I had bought the correct type of spray paint the first time!
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| Everything looks better with toys picked up |
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| Now, to test out the fireplace. I have a fire extinguisher and 911 ready to go! |
